


A Three Year Reunion

by gayspacepilots



Series: Two Gay Botanists and Their Very Sweet Daughter [1]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Star Trek Beyond Spoilers, The Sulu Family, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, cute family interaction, this story has a lot of fluff and tears so be prepared
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-07-28 07:43:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7631176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gayspacepilots/pseuds/gayspacepilots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It has been almost three years, three years since Hikaru had seen his husband Ben and his daughter Demora. But finally at long last the Enterprise was granted shore leave on Yorktown, the star base where their small family of three lived.</p>
<p>Or a super fluffy, super angsty tale of the Sulu family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Homesick

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by and based off of Star Trek Beyond, if you haven't seen it yet, I'd highly recommend it. This story is centered on Hikaru, Ben and Demora and it explores their relationship further as a family. Including cute family conversations, angsty video calls, a very sweet reunion and so much more.
> 
> This particular chapter starts right before the Enterprise docks on Yorktown. My story isn't identical to the events that take place during Beyond, but includes most of them. I hope you like it.

It has been almost three years, three years since Hikaru had seen his husband Ben and his daughter Demora. But finally, at long last, the Enterprise was granted shore leave on Yorktown, the star base where their small family of three lived.

But now, he'd be able to see them again.

  
“Lost in thought Mr. Sulu?” Kirk asked. Hikaru jumped in his seat, startled by the voice behind him.  
“Uh, yeah. I guess you could say so.” Hikaru responded.  
“So what's got Starfleet's best pilot so distracted?” Kirk inquired.  
“Captain, might I suggest this conversation should take place somewhere else,” Spock began, “ P erhaps not on the bridge?”  
“Calm down Spock, it's not doing any harm,” Kirk replied, “plus it will help to ease the mind and keep Mr. Sulu alert.”  
Spock raised an eyebrow, “ P erhaps you are right , Captain. Continue your conversation.”  
“Mr. Sulu, please continue.” Kirk responded.

  
“Well it's been 3 years since I've seen my family,” Sulu started as he leaned over and picked up Demora's picture that he kept with him. “I miss them both dearly and I-” Sulu cut himself off, unsure of what to say to the Captain and the bridge crew that would no doubt be listening.  
“I never should have left them. And I feel terrible for doing so.” He finally managed to say.  
Kirk was at a loss for words. Did Hikaru really say that he didn't want to be here?  
“Hikaru,” Pavel interjected, “I'm sure Ben and Demora vill understand vhy you're here. Zey lowe you and zey know you lowe your job and zat you're amazing at it.”

“Yeah they wouldn't be upset or anything.” Kirk answered, “they're your family. I'm certain that they will welcome you with open arms once we get to Yorktown.”  
  
“Well that does make sense,” Hikaru thought. “But they don't know the whole story.”  
Hikaru thought for a minute before speaking, “You’re both making sense, but maybe I could tell my side of the story before this continues?”  
Kirk shared a brief glance with Pavel before looking around at the rest of the crew. All of which were staring, clearly interested in where this conversation was going.  
“Of course Mr. Sulu.” Kirk answered, looking back at his pilot, “fire away.”  
  
Hikaru sighed before he began. “I almost didn't go on the 5 year mission because I knew that I would miss my family immensely.” He started, looking down at the photo of Demora. He brushed a finger along her chin, as if by doing so she'd appear right before him.  
  
After a long pause, he continued, “I know this is exactly what happened because I put her picture here on my console to remind myself of home and hopefully make me a little less homesick.”

Still looking down at the photo, he felt tears prick his eyes. “I wish I had a picture of Ben or the three of us together to put on my console but sadly those pictures are in several small family photo albums, that I left at home accidently.”

Hikaru gave a light chuckle, “I remember when he told me I forgot it at home.”

 

_\-----Past-----_

 

_“You know you left your photo album at home, right?” Ben asked Hikaru during their first video call since Hikaru left for the Enterprise’s 5 year mission._

_“Yeah I know, sorry about that.” Hikaru answered._

_“It's fine, I’ll take good care of it.” Ben started, “also I may have added some new photos for the next time you venture out into space.”_ _  
_ _“Really?” Hikaru asked._

 _Ben nodded in response. “I’ll keep doing so_ _,_ _if you want me too.”_  
_“Yes please do, I don't want to miss anything while I'm gone. I want to know everything, your day to day schedule, any stories you have, anything you and Demora do. I want to know all of it.” Hikaru responded._  
_“Absolutely, as long as I get to hear everything about your day.” Ben answered._  
_“Well it seems we have come to an agreement.” Hikaru said with a laugh._ _  
_ “It seems that we have.” Ben chuckled.

  
_They talked for what seemed like forever until Ben had to leave for work and Hikaru had to report to the bridge for his shift._  
_“Talk to you soon, Ru.” Ben spoke._  
_“Message me when you're free to talk." Hikaru said._  
_“I love you Hikaru.” Ben said tears forming in his eyes._  
_“I love you too Ben.” Hikaru responded, blowing a kiss to his husband. Ben blew one back and the two went their separate ways, separated by several galaxies._ _  
_ “Oh,” Hikaru thought, “this is going to be so hard.”

 

_\-----Present-----_

 

For the first time since this conversation began, Hikaru looked up at the bridge crew. Pavel looked like he was about to cry, as did several others, Spock seemed indifferent, Nyota looked worried and Bones and Kirk looked sympathetic.

“You could get Ben to send them to your work PADD.” Scotty answered.

Hikaru sighed, “that wouldn't work. The photos we have are old school. Ones you take with a camera and then take them to a photo center to get developed. The physical copies are the only ones we have.” Hikaru explained.

“What is this, the dark ages?” Scotty asked, “there are others ways to take a damn picture.” Scotty replied, getting annoyed.

“I know, I know, but we like old school. There's something about how a book feels when you turn it’s pages and feeling of holding a family photo in your hands.”

“He does have a point.” Bones interjected.

“We’re working on transferring the photos to our PADD’s but that's going to take some time.” Hikaru finished.

“Well you could always talk to him through video messages.” Scotty began, “I know it ain't the same as talking in person but it's something.”

“Despite the physical difference between us, we do frequently talk through video messages, just like we said we would.” Hikaru spoke, “It usually makes me less homesick talking to them, it makes Demora feel better and it makes Ben miss me a little less.” Hikaru answered. “It know it isn't the same as talking in person but at least I could see them and hear their voices.”

“That's the spirit laddie, now you're getting it.” Scotty replied.

“I’m not so sure about that, I was brought to tears the last time I talked to them.” Hikaru answered, the bridge crew seemed confused.

 

“Let me explain, I talked to them for hours, desperately trying to catch up with all that I had missed while I was gone. We had been talking for several hours until it got worse…”

 

_\-----Past-----_

  
_“So then the customer just walked out, can you believe that? After all I went through to make sure he got what he wanted he just changed his mind and left.” Ben said in a huff._

_“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, if I was there I would have demanded he pay for your plants and apologize to you for being so rude.” Hikaru said in a huff, defending his beloved husband._

_“Thanks, I appreciate that, honey.” Ben answered._

_The two of them were interrupted by a loud cry of, “DAAAAAADDDYYY!!!!” from the hallway. Almost immediately Demora appeared by Ben’s side and started babbling away to Hikaru._

_Hikaru couldn't help but smile at the energy and enthusiasm of his daughter. He honestly didn't know how Ben kept up with her and maintained a steady job at one of Starfleet’s greenhouses at the same time._

_“Demora, honey, you should be in bed. It's long past your bedtime.” Ben responded after several minutes of Demora chatting away to her other space Dad._

_“Awww, but Paapaa, I want to talk to Daddy more.” She said with a pout, that was interrupted with a huge yawn from the young girl._

_“Exactly my point, come on sweetie, say goodnight to your father and I’ll tuck you in again.” Ben answered._

_“G’night daddy.” Demora said, already almost asleep in Ben’s arms._

_“Goodnight Dem,” Hikaru answered with smile and a small wave._

 

_Ben left to tuck her in but was startled when he returned to his husband crying._

  
_"Ru?" Ben asked, his voice heavy with concern, "Hey, what's wrong?" Ben sounded nervous and was starting to get frantic._  
_"I-I ju-ust," Hikaru stumbled over his words as tears poured down from his face. Ben looked heartbroken and worried. "I just m-miss y-you so m-much," Hikaru started, "I-I n-n-never sh-should have left y-you."_  
_  
_ Ben had tears falling down his face, watching his husband desperately try to explain himself. He wished he could be there with Hikaru so he could embrace and soothe him by running his hands along his back and whispering sweet reassurances into his ear. This never failed to calm down Hikaru when he was upset.

 _"Hikaru, sweetie, look at me." Ben began, he waited until Hikaru's sobs slowed down and Hikaru looked at him with watery, red eyes and Ben felt his heart break all over again._ _  
_ _"Ru, we love you and yes_ _,_ _of course we miss you, but you've found what you love out there.”_

_“But I-I l-ove you t-two more th-an space.” Hikaru interjected with several loud sobs._

_Ben sighed at looked at husband's sad eyes._

_“Hikaru, let me finish.” Ben replied, in hopes Hikaru would listen to him. “You get to explore deep space and make peace with other civilizations."_  
_  
_ Ben reached his hand to touch the screen to the right of Hikaru's face, trying to reassure and calm Hikaru since he couldn’t be at his side at this moment. Hikaru slowly raised a shaky left hand to the screen to mirror Ben’s right hand.

_Ben continued, "Sweetheart we love you so much," Ben felt his voice cracking but he still continued. "We want what's best for you and you’re the best at exploring space, the best at piloting the Enterprise."_

_“I’m not too sure about that.” Hikaru answered. Ben sighed, despite how difficult his husband was being, he was determined to cheer Hikaru up._

_  
_ _"Who at 25, was announced the Federation's best pilot?"_

_Hikaru was confused why Ben was bringing this up now._

_“Me?” Hikaru asked hesitantly._

_“Yes you!” Ben said excitedly, “And who has a PHD in astrophysics?”_

_“Me.” Hikaru answered._

_“Who graduated at the top of his class with outstanding scores in astrosciences and advanced botany. And founded Starfleet Academy's European Swordsmanship club?”_

_Ben couldn’t stop himself from chuckling, just imagining Hikaru finding the most geeky Starfleet cadets and moving around easily with various different swords._ _  
_ _“Me.” Hikaru answered again._

_“Hikaru, you are outstanding at your job. You’re 26 and have worked your ass off to get all these achievements, you earned this and you work on the best starship in the entire Federation.” Ben said, boasting about his husband’s accomplishments._

 

_Ben took a deep breath before continuing. “It’s more than I’ve ever done.” Ben said looking at the floor and removing his hand from the screen._

 

_Upon hearing this, Hikaru’s heart broke. They had had this conversation before, that Ben never believed he was good enough for Hikaru. In Ben’s words, “I, a simple Starfleet botanist, can’t compete with an exemplary Starfleet graduate with all the achievements you have. In comparison to you, I’m a nobody.”_

_“Ben, we’ve talked about this,” Hikaru said, sounding more than a little worried. Ben sighed, it was far too late to be having this conversation._

_“Plus,” Hikaru continued, “you graduated Starfleet with good grades and they gave you a job on Yorktown when you moved.”_

_“Hikaru, please, just leave it alone. It’s getting late.”_

_“BEN!” Hikaru said, more aggressively than he meant to. “I love you, Dem loves you, you’re doing the most important thing for our family. You’re there for Dem when I can’t be, you’re there to support her and love her and tell her to follow her dreams. To protect her, to relax her when she’s scared or worried.”_

 

_Hikaru was crying again, but he continued anyway. “Ben, I would trade places with you instantly if it meant that I could see our little girl again. To learn how it feels to be a father, because I haven’t had that in years, Ben. I haven’t seen her in 3 years.”_

_Hikaru stopped, realizing just how long he’d been gone. “Three years.” He whispered._

_“Oh Hikaru,” Ben began, not even sure where to begin. He felt awful, but he gathered himself up and looked at his depressed husband._

_“I never should have brought this up.” Ben said, crying a little, “I know it was hard for you to leave us and go into space. But that’s why we moved to Yorktown, to be closer to you.” Ben said, lightly stroking the screen. Hikaru looked up at him, with tears falling down his face. Ben watched one curve over his cheek, roll down to his chin and fall down the the floor below._

 

_“We love you so much, we both do. Dem doesn’t stop talking about you and how much she looks up to you.”_

_Hikaru was shocked by this, “she looks up to me?” Hikaru repeated, “Even though I’m not there?” Hikaru asked._

_Ben smiled, “She wants to be a Starfleet pilot.”_

_Hikaru’s eyes widened, “Really?” He exhaled, with a sunny, radiant smile._

_“Yeah, she really admires you.”_

_“Well, I know she loves and admires you too, Ben.” Hikaru answered._

_Ben smiled, “Yeah, I know.”_

 

_“Do you know what I’m also the best at?” Hikaru asked._

_“Sorry?” Ben asked._

_“Before you told me I’m the best at my job. Do you know what else I’m the best at?”_

_“Uhh, I’m not sure. What else are you the best at? Ben asked back._

_“I'm also the best at loving you and Dem.” Hikaru said with a light laugh that was barely audible._

 

_Ben smiled and laughed too, “That’s my husband.”_

_"I just miss you so much, I wish I could be there with you." Hikaru continued when he finally stopped sobbing._

 

_Ben took a deep breath, “I love how sentimental you can be,” Ben started, making Hikaru laugh._

_Ben continued, "I know, I miss you too but we will get to see each other in a couple of weeks." Ben said starting off sounding sad but becoming more excited at the thought of Hikaru returning home._

  
_"Wait, what?" Hikaru asked, sounding surprised. "What are you talking about?"_  
_"Well," Ben started," I overheard Commodore Paris say that the Enterprise would be stopping off here for shore leave in 2 weeks."_  
_"Really? Wow, I-that's incredible!" Hikaru spoke excitedly, "that's the best news I've ever heard. Oh man, I-I just can't wait to see you."_ _  
_ "Me too, it's been far too long." Ben spoke.

_“Why couldn't you start off with that instead?” Hikaru asked with a laugh._

_“I needed to see you smile first before I told you the good news.”_

_“You are ridiculous,” Hikaru laughed loudly, “but I'm so in love with you.”_

_“I'm in love with you too.” Ben answered, giving Hikaru an entranced look. Hikaru smiled back at him and gave Ben an equally entranced look. They easily got lost in each other's eyes._

 

_Hikaru broke the silence by saying, “We should both go to bed, I've got a long day tomorrow and you also work tomorrow.”_

_"Yeah, we should both be in bed already." Ben said with a yawn._  
_"Talk to you soon, goodnight Ben." Hikaru said with a wave and kissed the screen lightly._  
_"Goodnight 'Karu." Ben said meeting Hikaru's lips on the screen, mimicking what they had done countless times together. And this was the closest they could come to the real thing at this moment._ _  
_ They both separated from the screen and ended the call, falling into their separate beds, one on Yorktown, one on the starship Enterprise.

 

_They both fell asleep thinking of reuniting their family for the first time in almost 3 years._

_  
_ \-------Present-----

 

After telling his story, Hikaru realised that Ben had had the exact same conversation with him a few weeks ago, that the bridge crew was having with him now.

Realizing he was completely wrong, he put his head in his hands and said, “I'm an idiot, aren't I? They do love me and they'll be grateful to see me again.” Hikaru answered, looking up at the bridge crew.

“I wouldn't call you an idiot, but I am a little disappointed that you thought your family wouldn't understand your intentions for venturing out into space.” Kirk answered, “they are your family, don't think so lowly of them.”

 

Hikaru felt horrible for ever thinking about doubting his family’s love and care for him. “I feel terrible for doubting them.” He answered, almost repeating his thoughts out loud.

“Your opinion was just clouded by being homesick, there's nothing wrong with that.” Bones replied.

“Don't beat yourself up ower it, just know zat your family lowes you.” Pavel interjected.

“Yeah, you're right, you're right.” Hikaru answered with a relaxed smile, “I can't wait to see them again.” He said, his smile never leaving his lips.

 

Fifteen minutes passed before Hikaru spoke again, “Captain, we're approaching Yorktown base.”

Before the Captain could respond, Nyota interjected, “Captain, Yorktown is hailing us, they request full takeover of the Enterprise to begin the standard docking procedure.”

“Tell Yorktown they have full control of the Enterprise.” Kirk answered.

 

“Home,” Hikaru said, looking out at the large space station in front of him.

“It's good to be home.”


	2. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hikaru returns home and his family welcomes him with open arms and a lot of affection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I can't believe so many people have taken interest in my story. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my story and I hope you will continue to read the rest of it. This chapter is a little shorter than the chapter one but it's got a lot of cute family love. I hope you like it!

\-----Starbase Yorktown: Present day-----

  
It has been almost three years, three years since Hikaru had seen his husband Ben and his daughter Demora. But finally at long last the Enterprise was granted shore leave on Yorktown, the star base where their small family of three lived.  
  
The Enterprise was slowly maneuvered by Starfleet command to the docking station that ran underneath the buildings and grounds of the vast space station. Yorktown was every bit beautiful as it was stunning. It was surrounded by a barrier that contained simulated gravity, preventing the millions of citizens from floating off the ground and being sucked into space. As well as an air supply unit that sent breathable oxygen to all the Yorktown citizens.  
  
The Enterprise crew let out a sigh of relief as they finished docking and made their way off the ship. There were thousands of people in the waiting area outside of where the Enterprise had docked. Most were friends and family of the Enterprise crew or part of Starfleet hoping to catch a glimpse at the intergalactically known crew of the USS Enterprise.  
  
Once Hikaru was off the Enterprise, his eyes started scanning the crowd for the two people he hadn't seen in almost three years, the two people that mattered the most to him. One of which was his husband, his beautiful Ben. With his gorgeous brown skin, that was so similar to his own. The one he fell in love with during their academy days. Hikaru spending the majority of his time in botany lab ever since he met his professor's stunning botany assistant, Ben. It wasn’t long after the botany lab meetups that they started dating and having frequent kissing sessions in the their rooms. These quickly led to more intimate moments. Hikaru smiled at the memory of their first time together.

The other was his little girl that he last saw 5 months after her 1 ½ birthday. The half birthdays all started when Ben insisted Demora was so special that she got to celebrate her birthday twice in one year (because that’s mandatory for all Starfleet princesses). Demora loved this idea and applied it to her two dads. Giving them, “Happy half-birthday” hugs at 5:00 in the morning because she was so excited. This then started the trend of half birthdays and their family got just as excited, if not more for their half birthdays than they did for their real birthdays.

 

Some of the best half birthdays were when Hikaru requested a holiday on Demora’s 3 ½ birthday and spent the whole morning talking to her, while Ben was busy getting Demora an Enterprise plushie from Jhytaa Sh'rhaohrok, an elderly Andorian that made a living off of stitching and fabric. Demora was thrilled when Ben came home and gave her the plushie.

To this day she can’t fall asleep without it.

 

Or when Ben and Demora surprised Hikaru with a video call from their whole family. This included both Hikaru’s and Ben’s parents, their remaining grandparents, Hikaru’s sister and brother and Ben’s sister, who passed away a few days after the call. Ben was heartbroken for months until he started to feel better. The video call lasted for hours Until Hikaru had to report to the bridge.

 

The last was when Demora and Hikaru surprised Ben with rare alien plant that Ben had been trying to find for more than 2 years. Hikaru would never forget the look on Ben’s face when Demora handed Ben the plant. He lifted Demora off the ground and hugged her tightly. If the technology existed, Ben would have pulled Hikaru though the screen to thank him for this truly wonderful gift.

 

When his eyes locked onto them, he let out a radiant smile and sped towards his family, his loving daughter Demora and his caring husband Ben. He knelt down as Demora ran into his arms. "Daddy!!!" She shrieked excitedly. Sulu let out a laugh, thanking the space gods for bringing him home.  
"I missed you so much sweetie." He finally said, picking her up and giving her a much needed hug. The hug was tight but soft enough Demora could shift in his arms. Hikaru buried his face into her hair and gave her a somewhat soft kiss. She laughed as she threw her arms around his neck.

Carefully, he maneuvered Demora so she was supported by his left arm while he wrapped his right arm around Ben. Then Ben moved his left arm around Hikaru’s waist as Hikaru rubbed his hand along Ben’s side, while keeping a supportive arm around Demora. Hikaru spoke softly, “I'm so glad you could make it.” Ben and Demora smiled at Hikaru.

 

It didn't last long before Demora began to her usual babbling, telling her reunited space Dad everything that he had missed while he was away.  
  
Hikaru smiled up at his husband, tucking his head into the soft skin in between Ben's neck and his shoulder. He kissed Ben's neck lightly as they started walking back to their home with Demora's soft voice surrounding them.

"I missed you so much Hikaru," Ben spoke, "It's so good to see you again." He said as he nuzzled his nose into Hikaru's hair, sighing at the smell of Hikaru. A light musk, dirt and flowers, along with the strawberry shampoo Hikaru always used, despite Ben always teasing him for it, even though Ben secretly loved it.  
"You still smell like strawberries and plants." Ben said in a whisper, so he wouldn't interrupt Demora's babbling.  
  
"I know you love it," Hikaru said prodding Ben's side, "you say you don't but you wouldn't be constantly smelling my hair and my body if you didn't love it." Hikaru whispered giving a wink to Ben before resting his head on Ben’s shoulder again. Hikaru was hoping that Demora didn't hear his previous comment (he did not want to traumatize his daughter). Luckily Demora didn't hear him and continued talking with energy and enthusiasm. However, going by the bright blush that was spreading across Ben's face and his neck, he had heard Hikaru's comment.

  
  
Hikaru almost had fallen asleep twice while walking home due to exhaustion from being on the Enterprise and the relaxing aura that his family had always provided. Hikaru always felt so calm around them, except when they were in danger. But they were safe now, no attacks, no wars, just the calming voice of his family and the white noise of the city around them.

Since Hikaru and Ben were both worked for Starfleet, they were given a large Starfleet apartment on the third floor of the Olympia Gardens Apartment Complex. It has 2 bedrooms in the back of the apartment. To the right was a large living room, the dining room was adjacent to their slender kitchen; both were below the living room and Demora’s room. And the bathroom was on the far left, below Hikaru and Ben’s room.

 

  
Finally arriving at their home, Ben now realized just how tired Hikaru was.

“Ru?”

Hikaru hummed in response.

“You’re exhausted, tired and barely standing upright.” Ben started, “You need some sleep.”

“No, want...spend time... you,” Hikaru mumbled.

Ben sighed.

“Hikaru, you’re practically asleep already.” Ben argued.

Hikaru groaned, but reluctantly made his way to the bedroom and collapsed on top of the covers.

Ben rolled his eyes and grabbed a spare blanket from their closet, placing it over Hikaru.

“Good night Hikaru,” Ben whispered, kissing Hikaru’s forehead before quietly leaving the room.

  
  
As darkness surrounded Hikaru, he thought to himself, "I'm so lucky to have a family like this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it for chapter 2, I've already got chapter 3 finished and I will be uploading it in a few days. Please comment if there's something I need to fix or if you have any questions. I hope you stick around for my other chapters. 
> 
> Thank you for reading my story, you're all wonderful.


	3. Family Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hikaru spends some family time with Ben and Demora after 3 long years without them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's been reading this story, I really appreciate it! It's been a long time since I've had enough time on my hands to sit down and write something and it makes me happy to hear the positive feedback. I love you all and I hope you'll stick around until the end of this story.
> 
> This is another short chapter but I think I made up with having some cute family shenanigans.

Hikaru was woken up several hours later by the smell of something delicious and the sound of pots and pans banging.

 

Hikaru rubbed his eyes and pulled the blankets off. Stretching out his arms, he let out a long yawn out before getting off the bed. He stood up and walked towards the kitchen just as he heard, “Demora! Be quiet, daddy’s still sleeping.”

“Sorry, but I want to help.” Demora answered.

Hikaru smiled and stood at the arch that separated the hallway to the bedrooms from the kitchen and continued to watch this scene unfold.

“Oh, of course you can help,” Ben began, lifting Demora up onto the counter. “But if this is going to be a surprise then we have to be quiet.” Ben finished, making his voice quieter.

“Okay.” Demora whispered back.

 

Hikaru raised an eyebrow, “A surprise, eh? Well this ought to be interesting?” He thought to himself with a smirk.

“Alright, my little sous chef,” Ben started, making Demora giggle, “We’re almost done we just have to write a message on the top. Do you think you can do that?” Ben asked his daughter.

Demora let of a small excited noise, “Ooooo, yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!!!!!” Demora answered, buzzing with excitement. Ben smiled at her as he handed her a pipette bag filled with icing.

 

Demora held it awkwardly in her hands and went to work. She stuck her tongue out and focused on her writing.

“DONE!!!” She said when she finished, “You write one papa!” Demora spoke, handing Ben the half empty bag of icing.

Quickly Ben wrote something and they both stood back to admire their masterpiece.

“Yaaaayyy!!!” Demora let out excitedly. Ben kissed her head followed by her cheek lightly before saying, “Daddy's going to love this, Dem.”

 

Hikaru's heart had swelled watching Ben and Demora together, creating something that was meant for him. Hikaru tried to relax his heart from beating so fast, but was unsuccessful.

 

Hikaru decided he was standing there for far too long before finally announcing himself. “Daddy's going to love what?” Hikaru asked.

Ben, obviously not suspecting someone to be standing in the hallway, jumped 3 feet in the air, clutching at his shirt overtop of his heart.

Hikaru burst out laughing, seeing his husband's reaction. “Oh, there is going to be payback for this.” Hikaru thought. Hikaru's laughing caused Demora to start laughing and the two were hysterical by the time Ben had collected himself.

“WHAT THE FU-” Ben started to ask as he turned towards the sound of laughter outside the kitchen. “YOU!!!” Ben spoke, looking at his husband who was struggling to stop laughing. Ben quickly and almost angrily walked towards his husband.

 

Hikaru knew he was in for it now, but he knew Ben would never hurt his worst enemy, never mind his family. Ben was too sweet and caring to do that. So knowing he didn't face any danger, Hikaru saw the open container of flour, grabbed a handful and promptly dumped it on Ben's head.

Ben looked ridiculous. His usual dark hair was powdery white, his skin was covered in a thin dusting of flour and every time Ben coughed, he sent flour flying in every direction. After several loud coughing fits and a shake of the head, Ben reached over, grabbing 2 handfuls of flour and throwing them at Hikaru.

 

“Oh, you’re going to get it!!!” Hikaru let out throwing more flour at his husband.

This started an all-out flour war between the two men. Demora, wanting to be apart of this grabbed the remaining icing bags, one in each hand and threw one at her Papa and one at her Dad. The bags exploded on impact and the two men stopped.

 

They looked down at themselves, Hikaru covered in yellow icing and Ben in blue. Slowly looking up, the two men made eye contact with their daughter who was smiling wildly.

The two dads looked at one another with a smile before crying out together, “GET HER!!!”

Demora screeched as Hikaru and Ben lightly threw flour at her. Demora, laughing wildly  jumped off the counter and ran into the living room. Hikaru followed her and Ben ran the other way. The three meet in the living room and Hikaru successfully chased Demora into Ben's arms with an explosion of flour.

 

All three were laughing now, covered in flour and other baking ingredients. They all collapsed onto the floor in a pile laughing.

Ben flicked Hikaru’s forehead and spoke, “You almost ruined the surprise, Ru.”

Hikaru laughed, “Sorry, but in my opinion, a family flour war is the best kind of surprise.” Ben and Demora laughed at that.

“Hey Dem, why don't you get Daddy's surprise and bring it over here?” Ben asked. Demora's face lit up as she ran to the kitchen. When she came back, she was carrying a three tiered cake with yellow icing and blue accents.

 

Demora placed the cake in front of Hikaru and sat in Ben’s lap. Hikaru was filled with joy at the sight of this cake. If he thought his heart swelled at his family in the kitchen together, than his heart had consumed his entire body upon seeing their finished product.

The cake read, “Welcome home Daddy, I missed you.” In blue icing with a little heart next to it. In white it read, “I love you Ru, it's good to have you back.”

Tears started forming in Hikaru's eyes. Below the words was a drawing of what appeared to be their little family. Hikaru on the left wearing his uniform, Ben on the right in his casual attire and Demora in between them, holding their hands.

Hikaru was balling his eyes out. He couldn't believe the heart and thought and care that went into this cake. He sobbed into his hands as his chest became heavy with harsh sobs and violent tears.

 

“Oh no!!” Demora cried out, “Daddy doesn't like it, we've made him upset. Daddy please don't be upset.” Demora wailed, tackling Hikaru as best as she could; which only involved her diving into his arms.

“Oh Dem, I'm not upset, I'm happy. Oh so very happy!” Hikaru answered through his sobs.

“Dem, your daddy's so happy about our cake it's made him cry of happiness.” Ben replied.

“Really?” Demora asked quietly.

“This is the most beautiful, amazing thing I've ever gotten.” Hikaru answered, ruffling Demora’s hair. “With the exception of you two.” Hikaru added.

 

With a smile Demora wrapped her arms around her dad as Ben gathered them in his arms. “We may look like the most ridiculous family; covered in flour, sitting over a cake in the living room, but we are the best family.” Hikaru thought to himself.

 

They didn’t cut the cake until Ben had taken several pictures of the it. Some with and some without Hikaru smiling, holding up the cake. The last picture they took was the three of them, all sitting behind the cake with the biggest smiles on their faces. “Alright, let’s cut this bad boy.” Ben said after the photo session had come to an end. He left the living room to put down the camera on the dining table. He came back with a knife and three plates. Ben cut a piece for each of them, Hikaru getting the first and largest slice, Demora getting the second and smallest slice and Ben getting the last slice.

 

They all ate their cake, while Hikaru listened to the various stories from Ben and Demora about the past 3 years. Including when Demora lost her two front teeth, when Ben’s botany lab almost set on fire, when Ben and Demora planted trees in a nearby park, when they had a picnic in their house during a thunderstorm and many more.

“Oh Hikaru,” Ben said, interrupting story time, “you need to see our garden, it’s grown so much since you’ve been gone.”

“Really?” Hikaru asked, receiving an enthusiastic nod from Demora and a grin from Ben.

“Okay, sure let’s do that.” Hikaru answered.

 

After everyone had finished their cake slice, the family made their way outside to the large courtyard behind their apartment building. In the center was a large fountain, to the right was an open area with a few picnic tables that Demora used for playing outside. In the back was a small, shallow pool and to the left was a large greenhouse.

The family walked into the greenhouse, it was separated into sections, each section could be bought by the apartment members.

 

Hikaru was shocked, their garden had just barely been started by the time he left to explore uncharted space. But now there wasn’t a shelf that wasn’t full of plants, there wasn’t a patch of soil to be seen beneath the various plants in their “little” garden. The entire area was filled with a wide array flora from all across Federation Space, including everything from Earth Tiger Lillies to Antares Lunar flowers.

 

Everything about their garden was absolutely beautiful. Hikaru was full of excitement from the growth of their family garden.

“Well, Ru?” Ben asked, “What do you think?”

Hikaru took a breath before responding, “It’s incredible, I can’t believe how many plants you have grown.” Hikaru beamed. His eyes scanned around the garden, taking in everything.

“Are those-” Hikaru stopped, approaching a multicoloured rose bush. “Are those Chameleon Roses?” Hikaru asked.

Ben smiled, “You bet.”

“How’d you get them?” Hikaru asked.

Ben chuckled, “You don’t want to know, but they took three weeks to deliver to Yorktown.”

 

“So Daddy likes our garden?” Demora asked sweetly.

Hikaru smiled and lifted her into his arms. “Yes, Dem,” he began, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I love it, you’ve done a great job with it!”

“Papa said you’d like it!” Demora said, wrapping her arms around her dad’s neck.

“Well, I do, it’s beautiful, thank you so much for this.” Hikaru answered.

 

Ben walked over and kissed the back of his husband’s neck. “Welcome home Ru.” Ben whispered in Hikaru’s ear before wrapping his arms around his husband.

 

“Welcome home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you think? I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I hope you all enjoyed it. I'll probably upload chapter 4 tomorrow or the day after so you won't have to wait very long for it. Thank you all who have been leaving kudos and reading my little story and I'll be updating my story again soon.


	4. Family Meals and 23rd Century Board Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hikaru Ben and Demora share a family dinner that Ben prepared and later partake in Family Game Night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, chapter 4 already, I can't believe it. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, it's got a lot of cute family moments and involves Ben and Demora teaming up against Hikaru for family game night. I hope you'll like it!

Hikaru couldn’t remember the last time he had a home cooked meal. After years on the Enterprise, eating lukewarm food out of a replicator, he’d forgotten how incredible a fresh meal was.

Shortly after viewing their garden, Ben led the family back to the apartment for dinner. Ben was always the better chef, making recipes from his childhood, Hikaru’s childhood or creating something new from scratch. Hikaru could make complex meals, but he stuck to the basics, like noodles, rice, soup, boiled vegetables and mashed potatoes.

 

Ben almost killed Hikaru for feeding him nothing but instant noodles when Ben got lungworm during their first year at the Academy.

 

_\-----Hikaru's P.O.V: Past-----_

 

_“Here, this will help.” Hikaru spoke softly, offering a bowl of noodles in chicken broth to a very sick Ben._

 

 _Ben had come down with lungworm about 2 days ago when some cadet had collided with Ben in the North hallway coughing violently. Ben turned the fellow cadet around and brought him to the Medbay. Unfortunately, the cadet had a bad case of lungworm and had passed it onto Ben; who was_ _now_ _lying down on his boyfriend’s bed, hacking away._

 

_Ben took the bowl before croaking, “What the HELL is this?”_

_Hikaru looked confused, “It’s noodles.”_

_“No noodles are made with flour and eggs.” Ben whispered roughly, “They do not come in plastic packages.”_

_Hikaru looked mildly offended. Just because he chose not to cook doesn’t mean he couldn’t._

_“You know what?” Hikaru asked to no one in particular, “I’ll make you something. Something legitimate, that you can’t tease me for.” Hikaru answered._

_“Yeah, good luck with that.” Ben muttered._

_“What was that?” Hikaru asked quickly, taking the bowl back._

_“Nothing,” Ben replied, with a smirk._

_Hikaru glared at his boyfriend but walked away to his small Starfleet dorm kitchen._

 

_Hikaru opened the half-sized fridge, looking for something substantial to cook for Ben._

 

_His eyes scanned through the fridge, nothing jumping out at him. When he spotted the eggs, Hikaru grinned wildly. “Oh, I’ll show him.” Hikaru thought, “Never again will he associate my cooking with something that comes out of a plastic package.”_

 

_Hikaru got out his PADD and found a quick tutorial on pasta making and got to work. He followed the instructions carefully. He mixed his pasta and kneaded it, giving it plenty of time to rest. While it rested the video showed a quick clip of how to make a cream sauce to accompany the noodles. Hikaru watched the video twice after he burned his sauce and ruined the pan he was using. The second attempt was far more successful and Hikaru beamed at his success. He finished it off by rolling out his dough, cutting it and placed it into a pot of boiling water._

 

_After the pasta was done, he put it on a plate with the sauce and walked back to the bedroom to gloat over his creation._

_“Well, look who’s back.” Ben spoke roughly, “Did ya give up?” He teased._

_Hikaru snickered._

_“No, I did not,” Hikaru started, “In fact, I’d call this a success.”_

_Hikaru handed the plate and a fork to Ben, waiting to prove him wrong._

 

_Ben eyes widened, he half expected to see some vegetables charred beyond belief, or soup that clearly came from a can. But no, this didn’t happen, not even close._

_“Huh,” Ben let out, raising his eyebrows._

 

_Ben picked up several unevenly cut linguine with his fork and ate them. “The noodles are actually pretty good,” Ben thought to himself, “they’re...in a...pesto cream sauce...wait, that’s not quite it. B-basil? YES, a basil cream sauce. Well, the sauce is fairly simple but for someone who just made me instant noodles an hour ago, it’s not bad.”_

_“Sooo…?” Hikaru asked, “What d’yaaa think?” Hikaru singsung. He was still feeling confident from his cooking, but was worried Ben would judge it very harshly._

_“Well,” Ben began, “I would prefer the instant noodles.”_

_“WHAT?” Hikaru shouted, “What do you mean you prefer the instant noodles, I made you fresh noodles.”_

_Hikaru stopped looking at the floor, “I thought I did really well.”_

_Hikaru sat down on the floor defeated._

_“Oh, ‘Ru,” Ben croaked, getting off the bed and sitting in front of his boyfriend. “I was only teasing, I loved your noodles.” Ben answered, rubbing Hikaru’s arm with his hand._

_“Really?”_

_“Yeah, the sauce could use some work.” Ben said with a chuckle, which set his throat on fire, but he didn’t mind._

_Hikaru smiled, giving Ben a hug. Ben wrapped his arms around Hikaru and tackled him to the ground. They lay there in a pile of limbs, kissing each other slowly._

 

_Hikaru got lungworm a week later, but he couldn’t care less. It was worth it._

 

_\-----Present-----_

 

“What on Yorktown were you thinking about?” Ben asked, shaking Hikaru out of his memory.

Hikaru laughed, “Just the first time I cooked for you.”

“Mmmm,” Ben hummed, “I remember that.” Ben dropped his voice before adding, “I also remember what I did to you after that.”

Hikaru blushed brightly, Ben was not usually one to talk about their intimate times together.

“You really enjoyed that thing I did with the chocolate,” Ben practically purred into Hikaru’s ear.

Hikaru was never happier knowing Demora was taking a nap.

“Ben, just because Demora’s sleeping, doesn’t mean we should be talking about this.” Hikaru whispered, loudly.

 

Mentioning Demora made Ben stop instantly, he froze and didn’t say a word until dinner was finished.

 

“Can you wake Dem and tell her dinner’s ready?” Ben asked Hikaru, not meeting his eyes.

Hikaru got up from his chair and stood next to Ben. “Hey, you okay?” Hikaru asked simply.

Ben was silent for a moment before speaking, “I’m a terrible father, I-shit...what if she heard that, I-”

“Ben!” Hikaru interrupted, Ben looked at Hikaru. He looked depressed and very guilty, Hikaru sighed. “Ben, you’re a great father, you want to know why?” Hikaru asked.

Ben stayed silent, barely breathing, let alone speaking.

“Because if I go back there, wake her up and tell her dinner’s ready, she’ll run into the kitchen, bouncing with excitement. She’ll hug your legs and thank you for the meal before she even eats it. She will beam at you and request as much food as possible, just because she wants to fill her plate with your cooking. She’ll do that because she loves you tremendously.”

 

Ben, still looking guilty, couldn’t get a word out before Hikaru spoke again. “And I’m going to prove that to you right now.” Hikaru said as he walked out of the kitchen and into Demora’s room. Sure enough, a few seconds later, there was a cry of, “YAAAAAAY!” Followed by fast, light footsteps as Demora ran at full speed towards the kitchen. Upon seeing his daughter’s excitement, Ben smiled brightly, picking up his young baby.

“Ready for Din’ Dem?” Ben asked.

“Yes!” Demora screeched, “What’s for dinner?”

“Your favourite.”

“Spaghetti?” She asked, “Please tell me it’s Spaghetti!”

Ben nodded.

“Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, SPAGHETTI!!” Demora squealed.

Hikaru wandered back into the kitchen, glad to see a smile on Ben’s face again. Demora never failed to cheer either of them up. The three of them ate while exchanging light chit chat in between mouthfuls of food. When they were finished, Demora helped Ben with the dishes, while Hikaru put the leftovers in the fridge.

 

Typically, in the Sulu household, after dinner was family game night. This gave Ben, and Hikaru, when he was around, to spend a little extra time with their daughter. Demora loved family game night; even though she didn’t understand the rules to most of the games like three-dimensional checkers or holo Yahtzee. But she still enjoyed spending time with her dads, laughing whenever Hikaru got sent back to the beginning in Trouble. She loved playing go fish, because her dads would pick her up and plunge her towards the ground, every time they told her, “Go fish!” The motion was started with Hikaru and Ben holding Demora in the air, parallel to the ground. They would let out a long, “Goooo,” before swooping her down close to the floor yelling, “Fish!” Before placing her back on her feet.

 

It started as a one time thing, but Demora loved it so much that Hikaru and Ben never stopped doing it.

 

“So Dem,” Ben spoke after finishing the dishes, “what game are we playing today?”

“Hmmm,” Demora hummed, her tongue sticking out, a trait she acquired from Ben when they were in deep thought.

“Oooo, three dem-en-chon-al chuckers,” she answered, stumbling over her words.

“Checkers, sweetheart,” Hikaru softly corrected.

“Well, if we play checkers, only two of us can play.” Ben answered, following his family into the living room.

“No, I think we can make it work.” Hikaru replied, sitting down on the floor. “Ben you’re on Dem’s team.”

“YAY!! Papa’s on my team.” Demora squealed, “We’re going to beat you, daddy!”

“You bet we are,” Ben responded, high-fiving Demora and sitting behind her.

Hikaru chuckled, “so you two think you can take down an outstanding Starfleet pilot?”

“I know we can,” Ben smirked, “Right, Dem?”

“Right!”

 

The game went along smoothly for both sides, Ben whispering strategies into Demora’s ear and Hikaru thinking out his plan of attack. He of course would let Demora win but he wanted to challenge her. Hikaru waited for Demora to take several of his pieces before taking two of hers. This continued until Hikaru was left with three pieces, only one King while Demora had six, three of which were kings.

“Alright Dem, you got this,” Ben spoke, pep talking Demora. “You’ve got way more pieces than him.”

“Hey!” Hikaru interjected, playfully.

 

Ben ignored him.

Demora nodded at Ben’s words, but was unsure how to end the game in her favour.

“All you gotta do is isolate him.” Ben whispered in her ear, so lightly that she almost couldn’t hear him.

“Only one of his pieces can move freely, get rid of that one and you’re home free.” Ben finished, kissing the top of Demora’s head.

“Come on, one more win for the princesses.” Ben said rubbing Demora’s arms, Demora giggled and put on her best game face.

 

Demora saw her opportunity, she moved one of her kings close to Hikaru’s but not so close that it would be taken out. On her next move she jumped over her Dad’s King, taking him out.

Hikaru let out an exaggerated, “NOOOOO,” that Demora laughed at.

 

A few minutes later, Demora had wiped out all of Hikaru’s pieces, winning the battle.

“YEAH!” Ben shouted, lifting up Demora and spinning her around. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

Demora laughed as Ben peppered her with small kisses. Hikaru heart soared just looking at how happy Ben and Dem were. After being away for so long, he forgot what it felt like to be a father.

 

He smiled to himself, his eyes filling with tears.

 

It felt like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends chapter 4, the next chapter will be longer and have a lot of cute flashbacks and past memories. I hope you guys are still reading and enjoying this story of mine. Let me know if I've missed something or if there's something you think I should include in this story or any future stories. Thanks for sticking around, I'll see you again for chapter 5!


	5. Family Photos and Past Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hikaru looks through his updated photo album and reminiscences over his past memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's been reading my story, it makes me happier every time I see the hit count and the kudos go up. This chapter is one of my favourites, it's got a lot of cute flashbacks and family bonding. I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Also, the link below is the reference I used for Hikaru's album, except that Hikaru's album is brown instead of burgundy.
> 
> (http://www.blueskypapers.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/f/a/family_photo_album_buckle_burgundy_leather.png)

Once Ben finally stopped spinning Demora around, he gave her one last squeeze and carefully set her on the ground. He was still laughing when he noticed the tears falling from Hikaru’s face. But something was different, these tears weren’t from losing, not even from being sad. They were from being happy.

 

Through the tears, Hikaru was smiling brightly, watching his family become whole again.

 

Ben grinned to himself, “Oh, I’ve got an idea.” He thought. Ben walked towards his husband and offered him a hand, Hikaru took it and stood up. Then, taking Hikaru by surprise, Ben wrapped his arms around his husband and lifted him up, bridal style.

“Holy sh-” Hikaru cut himself off, almost forgetting Demora was still in the room. But all thoughts were lost when Hikaru started laughing uncontrollably when Ben started spinning him around.

“What are you doing?” Hikaru managed to say while still being spun by Ben.

“Giving you some much needed lovin’.” Ben answered, still holding Hikaru and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

 

“PAPA PAPA I want a turn!” Demora spoke when Ben stopped spinning and put Hikaru down.

“You already got one Dem,” Ben replied.

“No I want one with Daddy.” Demora explained with a pout.

Ben looked at Hikaru, asking for permission.

Hikaru nodded and lifted Demora into his arms.

“Ben, you ready?” Hikaru asked.

Without responding, Ben lifted the two with a grunt and started spinning the three of them in circles.

Demora was laughing loudly as Ben moved faster and faster.

“Switch,” Ben shouted and spun in the opposite direction.

 

When Ben’s arms were on fire, he slowed down and put Hikaru and Demora back on the ground. Ben collapsed onto the floor with a sigh.

“Hehehe, that was fun Papa.” Demora said, climbing on top of Ben’s chest.

“Yeah, it sure was.” Ben spoke, out of breath.

  


Ben would have fallen asleep on the floor if it wasn’t for Demora shouting, “Papa, Papa!! Daddy hasn’t seen the pictures.”

“What pictures?” Ben asked.

“From the book, the book without words.”

Ben realized what Demora meant, Hikaru had not seen the updated photo album. The one that Hikaru left at home accidently. The same one that Ben filled with pictures upon Hikaru’s request. Not that Ben wouldn’t have filled the album anyway, even if Hikaru didn’t tell him to.

“I’d love to see the updated album.” Hikaru spoke, sounding excited.

Ben smiled and lifted Demora from his chest into Hikaru’s lap and left to get the album. Ben returned with a brown leather buckle photo album, clutched in his hands. He sat next to Hikaru and Demora, who was still in Hikaru’s lap and handed the book to Hikaru.

 

Hikaru found it was a bit difficult to open the book with Demora on his lap; but he placed his chin on her head started going through the pictures from the beginning. The album had pictures of Ben and Hikaru long before they knew each other. This included their baby pictures, awkward school photos, weird phases they grew out of and high school graduation pictures. The album also included their time in the Academy, pictures of their new dorm rooms, the campus and when they met.

 

Their first photo together was of them side by side smiling, in the botany lab. It was just after they started dating and had started spending a lot more time together; bonding over flowers, talking for hours on end and going on dates, to the stores, outside of the campus.

 

_\-----Past-----_

 

_“Is that a Glebionis coronaria?” Hikaru asked, looking through Ben’s collection of native Earth flowers._

_“Uh, yeah.”_

_“I thought those were wiped out 75 years ago.”_

_“They were but there was a planet just outside Federation space that had the exact same genetic properties and appearance that the Earthbound Glebionis coronaria had.” Ben answered._

_“Wow, it’s incredible how that works, isn’t it?” Hikaru asked. “How the universe can have so many similarities attached to even the smallest of things.”_

_“Well, that’s why we’re here, right? To explore and make peace; to learn everything we can to make a better life for the following generations.” Ben replied._

_“Yeah, I can’t wait to get out there. To discover something new and see the stars. Meet someone different and learn about them.” Hikaru added._

_“I’d rather stay on the ground, where my feet have a solid surface that isn’t moving at the speed of light.” Ben disagreed, bouncing on his feet._

_“I think I can convince you to change your mind.” Hikaru spoke._

_Ben smiled, “Oh yeah? How?” He asked._

 

_Hikaru grabbed Ben’s face and pulled it towards his own, their lips meeting halfway. Ben’s heart was pounding; not only was this his first kiss, it was his first kiss with Hikaru and it felt incredible._

 

_When Hikaru pulled back, after a few minutes, far too soon for Ben’s liking, he said, “See? I’ve already changed your mind.”_

 

\-----Present-----

 

Hikaru continued to flip through the album, going past their first, second and third year in the academy, remembering all the things they did, the conversations they had and the adventures they got into. There were several pictures of them reuniting after the Nero incident. When Ben was Earthbound due to his lack of training aboard Federation Starships and that they didn’t need any botanists for that particular mission. Not that Hikaru objected because Ben would have been assigned to the Farragut, which was destroyed in the attack.

  


Their fourth year had many pictures of them in each other’s rooms, passed out from studying or cramming for their next exam. It also had a lot more pictures of them kissing, holding hands or taking the other’s picture.

 

Hikaru’s heart stopped at the next picture, it was the morning before they graduated. Hikaru had fallen asleep in Ben’s room because they had spent the night watching corny movies from the 21st century. Hikaru remembers waking up and seeing Ben on one knee, on the floor, holding Hikaru’s grandfather’s ring in his hand. Ben couldn’t even get to, “Hikaru will you,” before Hikaru had tackled him to the ground, yelling, “Oh my gosh, YES! YES BEN YES!” Kissing his fiancée over and over again. Ben put the ring on Hikaru’s finger and reached over to snap a picture before Hikaru could drag him away to have a more intimate celebration.

 

They didn’t even take pictures of them graduating because, all they could think was, “We’re engaged.” Luckily, Hikaru’s family gave them a few copies.

 

After that was their wedding photos, Ben in a dark grey suit, white shirt and blue tie and Hikaru in a matching suit and shirt with a yellow tie. Their reception was beautiful, but neither of them remember much from it, other than the pictures that were taken there. Then there was the honeymoon photos at the ski lodge they stayed at in Russia, upon Pavel’s request.

 

Followed by them buying an apartment, moving in and holding up a certificate of Demora’s birth with Demora in their arms, fast asleep. The rest were the three of them, feeding Demora, taking her for walks in a stroller, holding her, reading to her and just spending time with her.

 

_\-----Past-----_

 

_Hikaru always had to explain how Demora was born, luckily he didn’t have to explain this to Demora. She was too young to be learning about that. Well, it was all thanks to Dr. McCoy who suggested that they use an ova without any chromosomes and inject Hikaru and Ben’s sperm into the egg, in hopes that they would fertilize the egg. The technology was still fairly new and there was a large chance that it wouldn’t work. But a few weeks later, Hikaru’s sister Yuki, who had volunteered to carry their children, told the men that she was pregnant._

 

_Hikaru and Ben were ecstatic, they were going to be parents, they were parents. They decided on naming their baby when their baby would be born and decide their name then. When Hikaru and Ben first held their daughter, they were sobbing, they couldn’t believe how lucky they were._

_“I think she looks like a-” Yuki began,_

_“Demora.” Hikaru and Ben said together, their eyes met and they knew this baby was meant to be theirs. Their foreheads touched as they continued to cry._

 

_Neither noticed when Yuki gave the camera to a nurse to take the new, family of three’s photo._

 

_\-----Present-----_

 

The new photos shocked Hikaru, he saw various photos of Ben with Demora. Ben taking Demora to work, going on shuttle rides, going to school, cooking together, laughing and having fun. He watched as his little girl got older and older in the photos until there was only one left, one with Hikaru and Ben holding her in their arms. When they’d been reunited just this morning.

“Kirk took that one,” Ben explained, “He said you’d like it.”

Hikaru smiled, pulling Ben and Demora into a hug, “I love it, thank you.”

 

They stayed like that for a while until Hikaru spoke, “Well Dem, it’s long past your bedtime. You should get some sleep.”

“But I’m not tired.” She said with a pout, crossing her arms.

“How about you get into your pajamas and we’ll tuck you in.” Ben suggested.

“Okay,” she said, heading off to her room.

Hikaru and Ben went to theirs, changing into some far more comfortable clothes, before tucking Demora in with a, “Good night,” and a kiss from both of them.

  


“It’s good to have you home Ru.” Ben whispered, playing with Hikaru’s hair. Hikaru was curled up next to Ben, with his head on Ben’s chest.

“I’m glad to finally be home.” Hikaru spoke softly.

“I love you.” Ben purred, kissing Hikaru’s hands.

“I love you too, Ben.” Hikaru mumbled before falling asleep.

  


Several hours later, which felt like minutes to Hikaru, his comm went off. With several loud groans from Hikaru and a sleepy, “You should get that,” from Ben, Hikaru flung his arm to grab his communicator.

“Hello,” Hikaru muttered into the phone.

“Ah, Mr. Sulu, good to see you’re awake.” Kirk replied loudly, making Hikaru flinch away. “You’re needed on the Enterprise, there’s a mission we have to go on before we can officially begin our shore leave.”

“Do we have to?” Hikaru asked reluctantly.

“Don’t be grouchy, I am still your Captain. Anyway, the Enterprise is needed to navigate through a dense uncharted nebula to rescue a stranded crew.”

“How long will it take.” Hikaru asked, sitting up, a little more alert than he was when Kirk first called.

“A couple hours probably, but we won’t have contact with Starfleet. The nebula will prevent us from making any external calls.”

“Oh,” Hikaru said, sounding defeated.

“But we should be back on Yorktown before you know it. In bed with your special someone.”

“I have a name!” Ben shouted from under the covers.

“Sorry Ben,” Kirk yelled back, “Anyways, you’re needed on the Enterprise ASAP. See you soon, Kirk out.”

Hikaru sighed, he only just got home and now he had to leave again. “I don’t want to go. I can’t leave you guys, not now.”

Ben slowly sat up and placed a hand on Hikaru’s shoulder, “You can always call us.”

“No, we won’t have communication with Starfleet where we’re going.” Hikaru spoke sadly.

 

Ben had an idea, he opened one of their bedside tables, taking out Hikaru’s photo album.

“Here,” Ben said, handing the photo album to Hikaru.

 

“Take us with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends chapter 5, there's only 4 chapters left in this story but I am working on a sequel to accompany this piece. Let me know if you've got any questions or if you want me to add something. I hope you liked this chapter and will continue reading the rest of this story.


	6. Saying Goodbye Has Never Been Easy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hikaru says goodbye to his family as he heads out into a dense, uncharted nebula with the Enterprise crew. Unfortunately, the simple rescue mission they've been sent on doesn't go as well as they planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to everyone who continues to read this story of mine. This chapter starts slightly before the rescue mission in Beyond. It's got more angsty and sad parts in it than my usual fluffy chapters do. Thank you all who made it this far, you're awesome, I love all of you and I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

“Hey Dem,” Hikaru spoke softly, “Dem, wake up!” Hikaru spoke louder, shaking Demora’s side lightly.

“Mmmm, what’s going on?” She asked, rubbing her eyes.

“I’ve been called back to the Enterprise for a quick mission, but I’ll be back soon.” Hikaru responded.

“What? You’re leaving already?” She asked, sounding depressed.

“It will only be for a short period of time, I’ll be home before dinner.”

“You promise?” She asked, quietly.

“I promise.” He spoke softly.

“I love you.” She mumbled.

“I love you too.” He answered, kissing her cheek before she fell asleep again.

 

He left her room and shut the door behind him. He returned to the other room and sat next Ben on the bed.

“Hurry back, okay?” Ben asked, sounding worried.

Hikaru felt terrible, he hated making Ben’s anxiety worse whenever he ventured off into space.

“I will,” Hikaru spoke, bringing Ben into his arms. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“You better.” Ben threatened, with no anger behind it, just desperation. Ben’s arms tightened around Hikaru before saying, “Be safe, okay?”

“I will, the Enterprise has gone through much worse than a simple rescue mission.”

“I’ll miss you.” Ben whispered softly.

“I’ll miss you too.” Hikaru answered.

 

They shared a long kiss before Hikaru had to leave. “I’ll walk you down,” Ben spoke as the two left the apartment and walked down the stairs; spending as much time together as they possibly could. Once they were outside, they hugged tightly one final time; sobbing loudly into each other’s shoulders before Hikaru let go and walked away.

Ben could do nothing but watch as his husband was taken from him, nothing he could say or do would prevent Hikaru from going on this mission. He stood and cried as Hikaru disappeared into the early morning light.

Hikaru could do nothing but cry as he was forcibly taken Ben, he couldn’t stop, he couldn’t turn back, he couldn’t run away. There was nothing he could do.

They could both hear each other’s desperate cries. Ben could hear Hikaru’s as he got further and further away; yet Hikaru’s wails never seemed to get quieter. Hikaru could hear Ben bawling as he got further away from him. He wanted to turn back, he did, he really did, but no good would come from that. They’d never let each other go if Hikaru turned back.

 

Hikaru would apologize for leaving later, but for now, he clung to his photo album like a lifeline. He pleaded to himself, “let this be over, please.”

 

 

Hikaru had finally stopped crying by the time he made it to the docking bay underneath Yorktown. He tried to collect himself before reuniting with the Enterprise crew again. Looking down at his last reminder of home, his album, he squeezed it against his chest, thinking about and missing his family.

“Hey, Hikaru!” Nyota spoke from behind him, running to catch up with him. Hikaru didn’t respond and looked at the floor defeated.

Nyota, being an expert in almost every Federation language, including body language, knew Hikaru was clearly upset. “Hey, what’s wrong?” She asked.

 

Hikaru stayed silent, looking at the ground, walking forward painfully slow. Nyota took all this in and realized just how much this mission was weighing on Hikaru’s wellbeing. Grabbing his arm, she pulled him behind several large cargo boxes.

“Hikaru, I’m worried about you, you can't go on a mission if you’re this emotionally compromised.”

Hikaru’s head lowered to the ground slightly; Nyota could tell he was fighting back tears. “It’s about Ben and Demora isn’t it?” She asked.

Hikaru’s eyes started to water, “I’ll take that as a yes.” She thought to herself. “We’ll be back soon, you know. You’ll see them again,” she said rubbing his shoulders.

 

Hikaru’s head, if possible, lowered even further; he clutched tighter onto the album that was keeping him ever so slightly grounded.

Nyota, now noticing the album, asked, “What’s that?” Hikaru turned to the side, as if protecting the book.

“Is that a photo album?” She wondered, “My mom’s got about 12 of them, I remember looking through all our family photos as a kid.” Hikaru’s head shot up at this. “Nyota has photo albums?” He asked himself.

 

“May I?” She asked, reaching out towards the book.

Trusting that she wouldn’t cause any harm to the album, Hikaru slowly handed it to her.

She opened it up and looked at every picture with wide eyes, occasionally asking about some of the images.

“Is that Ben in high school?”

Hikaru nodded his head.

“You guys are both botanists?”

Head nod.

“Is that how you met?”

Head nod.

“You honeymooned at the top of a mountain?”

Head nod.

“Is this your...sister?”

Head nod.

“She carried Demora.”

Head nod.

“Is this the last photo before you left for the 5 year mission?”

Head nod.

“So all of these were taken when you were gone?”

Head nod.

 

She stopped at the last one, the one from yesterday. Where Hikaru reunited with his family after so long.

“Was this taken yesterday?”

Head nod.

Nyota looked down for a moment, “Do you miss them?”

Hikaru couldn’t take it anymore, he broke down. He lifted up the collar of his uniform and pulled it over his eyes, sobbing into it. Nyota wrapped her arms around the weeping helmsman, one of her closest friends and held him tight. Hikaru shed his tears, into her uniform, and hugged her tightly against him. Hikaru bawled and wailed against her, his body shaking, threatening to collapse. They stood there until Hikaru’s eyes were dry and red and his breathing had returned to normal.

 

“Yeah, I miss them.” He spoke quietly.

Nyota felt terrible for Hikaru, she couldn’t imagine reuniting with a family like that after so long, to be taken away from them just as quickly.

Nyota knew it was stupid to ask, but she hoped it would help Hikaru calm down.

“Do you love them?” She asked, looking at his bloodshot eyes.

His voice whimpered and his mouth quivered before he answered, “Of course I love them.”

 

Nyota gave him one more tight hug and said, “I’ll make sure you get you back to them, I promise.”

Hikaru smiled and let Nyota guide him to the Enterprise and onto the bridge.

 

_\-----Ben’s P.O.V-----_

 

Ben walked up the stairs of the apartment complex, feeling depressed and hurt. He was sniffling and crying silently as he made his way to the third floor; he keyed in the code to open the apartment and collapsed on their bed. As soon as he thought about this being both his and Hikaru’s bed, he was ripped apart. He grabbed a pillow as he tried to muffle his tears, sobs and wails into it.

 

Demora woke up to the sound of something muffled. Confused, she got of bed and headed towards the sound. Leaving her room, she walked into her parents room and saw her Papa crying loudly. She felt horrible, seeing her dad like that. She walked towards him and asked, “Papa?”

Ben let go of the pillow he’d been holding and looked down to see his daughter staring at him with watery eyes. “Papa, what’s wrong?” She asked, looking concerned.

Ben wiped his eyes before answering, “Nothing, baby. I just miss your father.”

“But he’ll be back, right? He will be back, won’t he?” She asked, tears starting to fall from her face.

“Oh, sweetie, come here.” Ben spoke, moving the covers back and lifting Demora up onto the bed, under the covers and into his arms. “Of course he will. I’m just sad to see him go so soon.” Ben explained, his voice hitching as he spoke.

 

For whatever reason, this set Demora off and tears poured down her face. Ben’s heart broke even more when he saw Demora getting upset. This caused him to let go and ball his eyes out. The two were holding onto each other like their lives depended on it, bonding over Hikaru’s absence. Ben had his arms wrapped around Demora, his face was buried in her hair as tears streamed steadily down his face. Demora was clutching her hands into Ben’s shirt, her head pressed against his chest, soaking his shirt with her tears.

 

The two cried themselves to sleep, clutched tightly together as all other citizens of Yorktown started their usual morning routines.

Except for one botanist and his 4 year old daughter.

 

_\-----Hikaru’s P.O.V-----_

 

Hikaru felt a little better as he walked onto the Enterprise, the bustle of the crew provided a pleasant distraction from his weeping heart. He smiled politely at passing crew members as he made a pitstop at his quarters.

 

He keyed in the code and his door opened with a ‘swoosh’. He cleared off his desk and placed his photo album onto it. He placed his hand on the cover as he glanced around his room. He looked at all the plants he’d brought with him, ones that Ben gave him for past anniversaries, ones that Demora grew from seeds in their garden and ones that he collected from various planets from across unknown space regions.

 

He admired the books, real books, with leather and hard covers, a growing collection ever since he was a child. He looked at the framed portrait of Ben, Demora and him when they took Demora to San Francisco, Hikaru and Ben’s hometown. He picked it up and held it against his chest, glancing at the remaining things around his room. The drawings Demora had made him, the gifts they beamed onto the Enterprise for the holidays and his birthdays. The journals he kept, writing down entries whenever he felt homesick or lost.

 

It was too much for him right now. He put the picture frame down and with a heavy sigh, he left the room and made his way to the bridge.

“Mr. Sulu, I was beginning to think you’d never show up.” Kirk spoke, when Hikaru exited the turbolift and sat down at his seat. Hikaru sighed. “Wouldn’t miss it.” He mumbled to himself. Kirk didn’t hear his comment, but Nyota had and turned to him, looking sorrowful. He brushed it off and turned to back to his station.

 

The Enterprise soon left Yorktown’s docking station 30 minutes later and headed towards the dense, unstable nebula.

“Lieutenant Uhura, open a ship wide channel.” Kirk ordered.

“Yes Captain.” She answered.

“Attention crew of the Enterprise, our mission is straightforward. Rescue a crew stranded on a planet in uncharted space. Our trajectory will take us through an unstable nebula which will disable all communications with Starfleet. We're going to be on our own, the Enterprise is something no other ship in the fleet has, you. As we've come to understand there's no such thing as the unknown. Only the temporarily hidden. Kirk out.”

 

Hikaru carefully maneuvered the Enterprise through the unstable nebula, avoiding debris, asteroids and any other space phenomenon that could harm the ship or the crew.

“Huh,” Pavel begun, “Readings indicate cloud density diminishing.”

And sure enough, the Enterprise was out of the nebula and facing a large blue planet, similar in appearance to Earth.

“This is Altamid. My ship is stranded here.” Kalara, who was the cause of this little rescue mission, stated.

“Good,” Sulu thought, he was just that much closer to ending this mission and heading home… again.

“Approaching Altamid, class M planet, massive subterranean element but limited to no life forms on the surface.” Spock answered.

“Proximity alert, ve have unknown ship heading right for us.” Pavel spoke.

“Lieutenant Uhura, hail them.” Kirk ordered.

“No response, sir. I am picking up some kind of signal.. they're jamming us.”

“Oh, no,” Sulu thought, here we go again; the Enterprise walking into trouble instantly. Kirk was shocked, standing up he spoke, “Magnify, Mr. Sulu.”

 

The view screen showed millions of small ships, “Droids, perhaps?” Sulu thought, all heading towards the Enterprise. Kirk quickly shouted out commands, “Shields up, red alert,” followed by, “Fire at will.”

“Captain, we are not equipped for this matter of engagement.” Spock answered.

 

And before they could realize it, the shields were disengaged, the warp drive was unresponsive, the ship had multiple tears in the hull, the warp coils were disconnected and there were intruders aboard the Enterprise while it was being destroyed. Kirk gave Sulu the con, but it was too late to do anything, just as the warp capabilities were transferred, the droid swarm cut off the lower decks of the Enterprise.

“Kirk to bridge.”

“Systems are failing ship wide Captain, structural integrity is at 18% and falling.”

“Abandon Ship.” Kirk ordered.

“Sound the alarm.” Sulu answered. He almost broke down right then and there. He might never see his family again. He told them he’d be back in a few hours, but now it seemed he might not return home ever again. He took a deep breath and centered himself, he could do this. He just had to keep fighting.

 

As Kirk left to separate the saucer from the neck of the Enterprise, the crew made their way to their escape pods; but most were captured by the swarm. Just as the Saucer was separated from the dismembered ship, it was too late to do anything. Kirk ordered him, Pavel and the remaining people on the bridge to get to their escape pods.

Sulu assisted everyone left into their pods, but stopped before he got into his own. He turned on his heel and bolted to his room, he couldn’t leave them behind. He got to his quarters in record time, but his room was destroyed. All his personal belongings were thrown about the room; his plants smashed on the ground, his books and journals torn apart and his album and portrait were gone.

 

“No,” he said weakly, “No, no, no, NO, NO.” he screamed, falling to the floor in pieces. His hands pulled at his hair painfully and he sobbed into the floor. “This can’t be happening, this has to be some sort of sick dream.” He thought, “Something I’d wake up from and Ben would be there to soothe me and tell me everything will be alright.” But it was happening, and there wasn’t anything he could do to stop it.

 

Getting to his feet he quickly headed back to his pod and was shot into space. He wiped the tears from his face just as his pod smashed into the doid swarm, capturing him.

“Could things get any worse?” He asked himself, “Actually, I don’t want to know.”

The saucer of the Enterprise smashed into the ground in a fiery mess, destroying a large line of trees in it’s path.

 

Before Sulu could even get a grasp on the situation, he was being led at gunpoint in a long, single file line with the rest of the surviving Enterprise crew. Going by the time they left Yorktown, the time it took to get to Altamid and the time it took for the Enterprise to crash and burn, he estimated that it was about 12:00. He glared at the creatures pointing weapons at them, but continued walking in hopes that he could still return home to his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think? I feel bad for making Hikaru go through all this pain and stress; but in Beyond you could see the pain and fear written on his face. I objected at first to Hikaru losing his photo album, I didn't want him to have to go through that and lose something so dear and precious to him. I decided to add it because I thought it would be a great way to expand his character more and watch him fight to get back to his family. 
> 
> Please let me know what you thought, I'd love to hear from you guys!!


	7. First Encounters and Family Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben tries to comfort Demora by telling her stories about him and Hikaru before Demora was born.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's been commenting and reading this story. I didn't expect this story to get this much attention and love, so thank you so much!! This chapter is super sweet, it's a bit of a break from the angst in the last chapter. It's got a lot of cute Ben and Demora interaction and more cute flashbacks of Hikaru and Ben. I hope you enjoy it!!!

Ben woke up a couple hours later, around 10:00; his back painfully sore and his arms numb, where they were still wrapped around Demora. He sighed, knowing he wouldn’t be getting any more sleep and would end up calling in sick to avoid going to work. He carefully untangled his arms from Demora and quietly got off the bed and walked to the kitchen to get his late morning coffee. He turned the coffee pot on and wandered over to the closet where he kept his much smaller photo album and sat on the couch in the living room.

 

He opened the book and looked at each of the pictures in the album, some of Hikaru, some of himself and some of them together. It was nothing in comparison to the album Hikaru had. This one only had the first 2 years they spent together in the Academy. Hikaru’s had everything, from their births to their wedding and from Demora’s birth up until her 4th birthday.

“Papa?”

Ben startled, turned towards his daughter, who was standing outside of his room, looking very tired.

“Oh Dem sweetie, did you get enough sleep? You looked exhausted.” Ben spoke.

Demora didn’t listen and sat next to her dad on the couch.

“Album?” She asked, climbing up onto the couch next to him.

“Uh, yeah, this one is mostly of me and your Dad in the Academy.” Ben explained with a small smile.

Ben thought for a minute, “Did we ever tell you how we met?” Ben asked Demora.

She shook her head, “How did you meet?” She asked, tilting her head.

“Well, it was during our first year at the Academy.” Ben begun.

 

“I was doing some extra work in the botany lab, filling in for our Professor who had to leave on a family emergency.”

 

_\-----Past (Ben’s P.O.V)-----_

 

_The botany lab was empty except for the large collection of plants and Ben; who was working as a temporary lab assistant, sitting at a very cluttered desk. Ben was analyzing a fellow student’s 6 foot tall Dionaea muscipula. The only problem was that it was accidently injected with a deadly toxin capable of killing the plant. So, Ben’s Advanced Botany project, that was keeping up up all night, involved him trying to find and make a cure to save the plant and keep it docile. He was just about to fall asleep when he heard the doors to the lab open._

_Ben turned towards the door and there in front of him, was the most stunning and beautiful Asian man he’d ever seen. “Wow,” Ben thought, “He’s absolutely gorgeous.” The man clearly didn’t know Ben was there and scanned the plants in the room; occasionally picking one up to look at another one behind it. Ben couldn’t take his eyes off the man, whom was clearly a plant enthusiast, at the very least._

 

_Ben took a deep breath and stood up, walking towards the intriguing man. He stopped a few paces behind him and cleared his throat. The man jumped and spun around, startled by Ben’s presence._

_“Is there something I can help you with?” Ben asked the frightened man._

_The man stared at Ben wide eyes before gathering his thoughts and saying, “Uh, yeah, I was looking for my Antares Lunar Flowers. I submitted them to Professor Rohrbach for my Advanced Botany midterm.”_

_“Advanced Botany?” Ben asked himself, so this man was in his class. “Why haven’t I seen him before, then?”_

 

_Ben looked into the man’s dark brown, almost black eyes and felt entranced. They were mysterious, but had a softness to them. He looked at the rest of his face, taking in every detail; the blemish to the left of his forehead and the light lines across his forehead. His thick but wispy eyebrows, the dark dots scattered on his face, the light stubble on his jaw. His dark hair that looked soft to the touch, the small smile on his lips and his collarbones that stuck out from under his casual clothes._

 

_Snapping back to reality, Ben quickly looked away from the man, mentally punching himself. “He’s way out of your league, don’t go barking up that tree. It won’t work.” He said to himself._

 

_“Antares Lunar Flowers… they’d be over here with the other moon related plants.” Ben explained, walking towards a table to the left of his desk; filled with various plants._

_Ben found the flowers on the table and spun them around, reading the name on the side of the pot._

_“H. Sulu,” it read. “Huh, I wonder what his first name is.” Ben asked himself._

_“Mr. Sulu?” Ben asked the man._

_“Yes?” He responded._

_“Ah, here you go…,” Ben said, picking up the requested flowers and thrusting them to the man’s hands._

_“T-tha-nk y-you,” Sulu answered, flustered, not meeting Ben’s eyes, “Well, I guess I’ll be on my-” Sulu was cut off as the toxic and corrosive Dionaea muscipula bit into the his right shoulder with a sizzling sound. Sulu let out a loud gasp and several grunts as he squeezed his eyes shut; trying to block out the pain, as the plant burned his shoulder with an acid-like liquid. Sulu dropped his plant and the pot smashed to the ground in pieces.  
_

 

_“Holy, shit!” Ben screamed, both stunned and terrified. He launched forward and pried the mouth of the plant open and away from Sulu. He fell to the floor clutching his shoulder, breathing heavily. “Wow, way to make a good first impression,” Ben thought sarcastically. He was mortified, thinking on his feet, he took off his lab coat and wrapped it around the Sulu’s sizzling shoulder._

_“We should get you to the MedBay.” Ben said, helping the man to his feet, one arm around his back, the other holding his coat on his shoulder. Slowly the two made their way to the MedBay and a nurse examined Sulu as Ben explained rapidly what had happened and that Sulu should be tested to ensure he didn’t get any toxins or acid absorbed into his body. The nurse_ _listened to Ben’s rambling, while taking a sample of Hikaru’s blood. She explained that it would be about a 30 minute wait, while they analyzed his blood, to check for any toxins in his bloodstream. She nodded and left to get the doctor._

 

_“So you thought it was a good idea to give a Venus Fly Trap several injections of a toxin that is capable of killing people?” Sulu asked sarcastically._

_“No I didn’t,” Ben answered in a huff, “Some dumb cadet ‘accidentally’ injected the plant and I’ve been trying to track down and make a cure for the plant, to save it from dying.”_

_However, Ben did feel terrible, even though it wasn’t his fault._

_“But yeah, it was a very dumb idea. My greatest thanks go out to whatever genius thought that would be a good idea..” Ben answered sarcastically. “Man, what was I thinking?” Ben asked out loud, “I wasn’t thinking, I just thought I could save the plant before it withered away. I never thought that this would happen, but I guess it is a 6 foot tall plant with an abnormally large mouth that’s leaking toxic, corrosive liquid.”_

 

_\-----Past (Hikaru’s P.O.V)-----_

 

_As Hikaru listened to the lab assistant rant on, he felt attached to the rambling man, who was being blamed for something that he was trying to fix. He was just solving someone’s fucked up experiment. “He must have a lot of heart,” Hikaru thought to himself, “And he seems to have the same amount of care and devotion to plants that I do.”_

_Hikaru smiled, “We’d make a good couple.” Hikaru froze, “Did I really just think that? About this man I’ve never met before and was only spending time with because a plant bit me? No, there was something else about this man that caught my interest so easily. Was it is his stunning beauty and kind face that looked like it wouldn’t hurt anything? Maybe it was his care and devotion to him, a complete stranger he’d never met and yet had gone through such measures to ensure I was going to be alright.” Whatever the reason was, he couldn’t stop thinking about and staring at the gorgeous lab assistant._

 

_“But really, Ben? You just had to bring a toxic plant back to lab that has the potential to kill us all.”_

_“Ben,” Hikaru thought, “Was that the assistant’s name? Ben. That sounded nice; Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben,” He repeated in his head. “Hikaru and Ben. SHIT! I did not just imagine myself with Ben. I don’t even know if he’s into guys, or if he’s into me…” Hikaru thought to himself._

 

_“Ben!” Hikaru spoke out loud, dragging Ben out of his rant. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine.” Hikaru spoke, “I’m sure you’ll find a cure soon and we can move past this.”_

 

_\-----Past (Ben’s P.O.V)-----_

 

_Ben smiled, he felt touched by the Sulu’s words, but before he could say something back, he was offered Sulu’s hand and he spoke, “I’m Hikaru.”_

_“Hikaru,” Ben whispered back, Hikaru blushing at the word. “That’s a nice name. Wait, did he just blush? Oh my gosh he did. YEESSS!!!” Ben shouted jumping up and down. He froze when he realized he said all that out loud; including the part about Hikaru blushing and that he liked Hikaru’s name._

 

_Ben sat back down next to Hikaru, both of which were a bright shade of red; they made glances at each other, smiling and turning away when their eyes would meet. They managed to start a conversation, once they had gathered themselves._

 

_Ben was usually not one for conversations, but he found that talking to Hikaru was remarkably easy. They were in the middle of talking about their childhood dreams; Hikaru’s to be the Federation’s best pilot and was well on his way to completing that dream. And Ben’s to make a living off of making flower crowns for everyone. Hikaru laughed at this and told Ben that it was adorable and he should follow through with it. But Ben was captured by Hikaru’s laugh, it was a warm chuckle that heated Ben’s heart. Ben laughed at the silliness of his dream and Hikaru was stunned. Ben’s laugh was sweet and caring, one that you can’t help but to smile at, which Hikaru did._

 

_They talked for what seemed like hours before they were interrupted by a doctor, who looked extremely unhappy, who asked, “Hikaru Sulu?”_

_“Yeah?” Hikaru asked, standing up from the waiting chairs._

_“You’ll need several hypos to combat the toxin and acid in your system. You’ll be knocked out for several hours; so say what you must to your boyfriend now or it will have to wait.”_

 

_Both men blushed at the mention of ‘boyfriends’, they looked at each other and Hikaru quickly gave Ben a peck on the cheek, before saying, “Okay, I’m ready.”_

_The grumpy doctor gave Hikaru an endless amount of hypos followed by a heavy sedative and told him he’d fall asleep soon. Hikaru motioned for Ben to come closer. Ben was still frozen from Hikaru kissing him, but managed to stand up and shift his legs forward._

_“When, I wake up from this, we should go on a date.” Hikaru spoke, drowsily._

_Ben blushed, “Yeah we should.”_

_“Good, you can take me right after I get up again,”_

_“I’ll be waiting for you.” Ben spoke, grabbing one of Hikaru’s hands._

_Hikaru smiled as his eyes closed._

 

_Ben smiled down at Hikaru, admiring the man’s beauty, without fear of staring for longer than what would usually be appropriate. Ben moved his other hand forward, to cup Hikaru’s cheek. Ben gently rubbed his thumb across his cheek, as Hikaru nuzzled into his palm._

_“Oh he is too cute,” Ben thought to himself, “He may look serious, but he’s a big softie...he’s just like me.”_

 

_Ben, without moving either of his hands, leaned forward and kissed Hikaru’s cheeks. “One-” Ben said pecking Hikaru’s left cheek, “for almost killing you today. And two-” Ben added, kissing his other cheek, “because you kissed me.”_

_“And now we’re even.” Ben finished, leaning back into his chair._

 

_Ben stayed at Hikaru’s bedside, not letting go of his hand until the man woke up 3 hours later. And the look Hikaru gave him when he finally woke up, made everything worth it._

 

_\-----Present-----_

 

“And that is how we met.” Ben finished. Demora was wide-eyed, she couldn’t believe the super sweet story of how her dads met. Yeah, it involved a deadly plant, but it got them together, so it all worked out.

“Awww, that’s so sweet.” Demora said, giving her Papa a big hug and a kiss on his chin.

Ben laughed, he couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have a daughter like this and a loving, caring, devoted husband like Hikaru. He was so lucky.

 

Ben had an idea, “Dem? What do you say we have one of our legendary picnics tomorrow afternoon.”

“Yaaaayy! Picnic, picnic, picnic!” She let out, full of excitement.

“Will you tell more stories at our picnic?” She asked.

“Of course I will.” Ben answered, walking into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the two of them.

“Will Daddy come to our picnic?” She asked.

“I am certain that Daddy would love to come to our picnic tomorrow.” Ben answered.

 

“What about your first date?” Demora asked.

Ben laughed, “Okay, and after I’ll tell you about the time I caught your Daddy fencing in the gym and he started teaching it to me. But not until our picnic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you think? I loved writing the cute little flashback between Hikaru and Ben. I easily could have written a whole separate fanfic on just that one scene, but I really wanted to include it in this story. There's some more cute chapters coming after this, but there's also still a bit of angst.
> 
> I hope you continue to keep reading this little story of mine, there's only a few chapters left.


	8. Fighting for Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hikaru and the rest of the bridge crew escape Altamid and defend Yorktown while Ben and Demora share stories about Hikaru.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you to everyone who's been reading this story! I can't possibly thank you enough for all the comments, kudos and hits that this story has gotten. Thank you to whatthebuckybarnes for the fencing tournament that I included in my story because it was too damn cute not to include it.
> 
> Check out whatthebuckybarnes on tumblr, she's super sweet and I can't thank her enough for [this](http://whatthebuckybarnes.tumblr.com/post/148217443080/i-just-have-so-many-questions-about-sulu-and) adorable fencing headcanon!

Hikaru missed his family more than ever now; he had been waiting, with the rest of the surviving Enterprise crew in a holding facility for many hours. It was getting late, he was certain it had to be about 20:00, or the equivalent of it on this damned planet. If this was true, he would have spent at least 8 hours on this planet, making him 2 hours late for dinner. He wondered if his family was worried about him.

 

\----- _Ben’s P.O.V_ \-----

 

“Papa, when’s daddy going to be home?” Demora asked, sitting in Ben’s lap.

“I’m sure he’ll be home soon, baby.” He answered, but Ben was beyond worried, he was terrified; Yorktown had no way of contacting the Enterprise and her crew. Which meant that Hikaru was on his own. Hikaru told him he’d be back by dinner; but after an hour of waiting in the dining room with a large dinner for his return that never came, he and Demora ate without him. That was over an hour ago. Ben was worried sick. “What is going on out there?” He asked himself.

“But he missed dinner.” Demora said, her eyes tearing up. Ben looked at his daughter, on the verge of tears too.

“I know,” He spoke quietly, rubbing her back, trying to soothe her. “I’m sure they just miscalculated their return time and he’ll walk through those doors any minute now.”

 

But Ben wasn’t convinced; he and Demora watched a few kid-friendly movies until it was Demora’s bedtime.

“Come on Dem, time for bed.” He spoke softly.

“Can I sleep with you?” She asked, “I’m too sad to sleep on my own.”

Hearing this made Ben’s heart break, he didn't know what to do. He was distraught and his daughter was devastated.

“Oh, of course you can sweetie.” He spoke, a single tear falling down his face.

 

The two cuddled up together, in Hikaru and Ben’s large Queen sized bed, under the soft, warm covers. Soft, quiet tears running down their faces, as they clung to each other tightly; both hoping and waiting for Hikaru’s return home.

 

\----- _Hikaru’s P.O.V: Present Time-----_

 

He was leaning back against a wall, staring off into space. He was so out of it, he didn’t even register Nyota kneeling down in front of him. She didn’t say anything, she just grabbed his tensed hands from his lap and held them in her own. Hikaru looked up at her and she smiled sadly at him.

“Are you doing okay?” She asked.

Hikaru shook his head, “No, I’m not.” He mumbled.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” She asked.

Hikaru took a deep breath and let out a long, dejected sigh. “I told them, I’d be back in time for dinner, but it’s approximately 20:00 and I’m trapped in a chamber on a foreign planet, that can’t be traced or make contact with Starfleet. A-and I-I-” Hikaru cut himself off, he took another deep breath before continuing.

 

Nyota looked at him, with tears in her own eyes, watching as her best friend’s concern for his family, but refusing to let it interfere with the current situation.

“I-I’ve lost my a-album,” Hikaru mumbled, taking back his hands to rub his temples.

 

Nyota feeling devastated for Hikaru’s loss, pulled the man into a fierce, powerful hug that she hoped would let out all of his pain and worry. She wished that Spock could be here, to mind-meld with Hikaru, to take away his pained emotions and replace them with happy memories from his past. Memories with Ben in the academy, or early mornings playing with Demora and evenings that the three would all fall asleep while watching late night movies.

 

Hikaru emptied all his worry and stress into their hug; thankful that he had one member of the alpha bridge crew with him. He hoped that the others were all safe and were far away from this torture chamber.

 

Another hour passed before Hikaru and Nyota had the wonderful idea of busting out. Hikaru had felt a lot better since he opened up to Nyota and was up for a little spy mission. They were going to try and figure out why they were here and what exactly was going on. They knew the exact amount of time it took for the guards to make a full rotation back to the main door that they’d be using to escape.

 

When they heard the guards walk past, Keenser sneezed on the door, holding all the enterprise crew, disabling it. “That's one heck of a cold,” Hikaru answered.

“Nice job Keenser,” Nyota said, complimenting the small alien.

“Alright we got about 15 minutes before the next guard rotation, come on.” Hikaru said as he and a security officer lifted up the disabled door. Carefully, he and Nyota crouched under it and wandered out into the enemy's base. Sneaking around the many enemies patrolling the area, they hid behind walls and structures, making their way to a room filled with running technology and equipment.

 

“This is a Megelin probe, the Federation was using these to find it’s way through the nebula.” Sulu spoke, his voice confused and a little concerned.

“What's he using it for?” Nyota asked.

Hikaru noticed the wires and cables attached to the probe and frantically followed it along the room, stopping when the wires went further out into the base. Glancing back at Nyota, they made their way along as they began to follow the wires and cables attached to the probe. They were both curious as to where it would take them.

 

They avoided the guards, until they found themselves at another set of equipment.

“What do you see?” Hikaru asked Nyota.

Nyota looked at the screens and controls before answering, “He's been piggybacking the subspace links between the probes.”

“Can we use it to send, uh, a distress signal?” Hikaru asked.

“I can try,” She said, controlling the machine.

Hikaru looked over at another screen just as Nyota said, “Sent!”

“He's accessed the Yorktown database.” Hikaru said, shocked. “Oh no, what did this mean for Ben and Demora? What did this mean for his family? Were they in danger too?” He asked himself. Hikaru shrugged off that thought, if they were in danger he’d come for them. But for now, he needed to figure out what was happening on this mysterious planet.

“What?” Nyota asked, confused and surprised.

“Starfleet data files. Ship logs, including the Enterprise.” Hikaru said, sounding defeated.

“He's been watching us this whole time.” Nyota answered.

 

“Nyota, do you think they’re in danger?” Hikaru asked, without hesitation. Nyota rushed to his side. “Oh Hikaru, I’m sure they’re fine. Ben was on Earth during the Nero incident, I’m sure they will be okay.”

Hikaru gave a light smile, “I hope you’re right,” he spoke softly.

 

Just then, some of the droids came and surrounded Hikaru and Nyota. They shared a look as the droids led them away to a large building, not far from their current location. “Oh this can’t be good.” Hikaru thought, and going by the look on Nyota’s face, she was thinking the exact same thing. “You can do this, just keep calm,” he thought to himself as he entered the mysterious building.

 

 

“You think you know what sacrifice really means? Federation has taught you that conflict should not exist; but without struggle you will never know who you truly are.” The alien, Krall, spoke in a deep, raspy voice.

“You have no idea who we are but you’ll soon find out.” Hikaru spoke confidently, putting on his best ‘game face’.

The alien almost laughed, “You mean the distress signal you thought you sent? Your coordinates were altered.”

Nyota looked at Hikaru, his face full of worry and fear from hearing the words Krall was saying to them. Nyota and Hikaru’s eyes met and she sent him a telepathic, “They’re going to be alright.” Hikaru gave a very nervous look back.

 

The villain continued, “Your rescue ships will be stranded in the nebula and your place left forgotten.”

“You're going to attack Yorktown,” Hikaru responded, looking up at Krall, the fear still evident on his face. “Millions of souls from every Federation planet will hold in hands. It’s perfect.”

“You're wrong, there's strength in unity.” Nyota spoke with vigor.

“The strength of others is what has kept me alive.” The villain spoke as he approached two security officers, hanging upside attached to a large machine. Krall hooked himself up to the machine as it was turned on.

Hikaru and Nyota could only watch as Krall sucked the life out of the fellow officers. Hikaru held Nyota back, it was too late for them to do anything.

 

 

Just as Hikaru thought that this planet might be getting better, Krall had returned, looking pissed. The sun had risen since Nyota and his nightly break out. It was probably around 8:00, meaning a full 24 hours had passed since he last saw his family. Since Krall was still on the planet, he assumed they were out of danger and safe on Yorktown.

“Tell me where it is!” Krall shouted. Most of the crew, by now, knew where the weapon was, but no one uttered a word. Hikaru was standing in front of the Enterprise crew; he stood his ground as Krall looked at him. However, he was not excepting Krall to grab him by the back of his head and shove him forward. He could feel his life being sucked away as Krall kept a firm grip on his head. He tried to keep his breathing normal, staying strong for his family and the remaining Enterprise crew around him.

 

Suddenly he heard a panicked, “Let him go and I’ll give you what you want.” From Syl, a new ensign in the botany labs that Hikaru had befriended at the start of their 5 year mission. She was also a very close friend of Ben’s, the three of them bonded over their shared love of xenobotany.

“No Syl! Don't!” Hikaru shouted, but Syl didn’t listen. She extended the insect-like legs that cased the back of her head. Resting lighting on top of her soft head was the weapon Krall was looking for. The droids took the weapon and handed it to Krall; he let go of Hikaru in exchange for the weapon and Hikaru fell to the ground. His body felt weak as he tried to even out his breathing.

“Lieutenant, unity is not your strength, it is your weakness.” Krall spoke walking away.

 

 

Krall had explained to a few of them what the weapon was, after he acquired it. Hikaru watched as Krall took Nyota and Syl up an elevator, away from the rest of the crew. “Oh shit, there’s no way that’s going to end well.”

They were all startled, a few minutes later, by Kirk appearing out of nowhere on a motorcycle, with Spock, Bones and an alien ally by the name of Jaylah. They had a brilliant rescue mission planned that saved the lives of the rest of the Enterprise crew. With the exception of Syl, whom Krall used as a demonstration of his death weapon to Nyota.

 

After the crew had been busted out and Kirk and Jaylah were safe on the Franklin, Nyota and Sulu approached Kirk.

“Captain this thing he has-” Nyota began.

“Yorktown, he’s going to destroy Yorktown.” Sulu answered, fear and terror written all over his face.

The bridge crew, plus Jaylah, all watched in horror as Krall’s large swarm of drones started launching; it would not be long before they began their attack on Yorktown. Hikaru couldn’t believe it, his family was there; he could only watch as the swarm took off towards his home, towards his husband and  his daughter. Sulu was so worried, he hoped and prayed that they were safe; that they were in their safety areas, away from harm.

 

Luckily, Scotty had got the ship running and the Franklin was ready to attempt lift off from cliff’s edge.

“Mr. Sulu?” Kirk asked. Hikaru turned his head towards the man, listening.

“You can, you know, fly this thing, right?” Kirk asked.

Sulu resisted rolling his eyes, “You kidding me sir?” He asked, unamused. “Of course I can fly this thing, I’m a fucking pilot. Who else is going to fly this thing?” Hikaru thought to himself.

Beside him Pavel spoke up, “Mr. Sulu, ve have to achieve terminal welsosity in order for ze stabilizers to prowide lift. Are you sure zis drop is high enough to do zat?” Pavel asked.

“We'll find out.” Hikaru answered.

 

Once Hikaru and Pavel had pushed the Franklin off the cliff, the ship quickly gained momentum as the ship fell closer and closer to the planet’s surface.

“Anytime Mr. Sulu.” Hikaru heard Kirk reply.

“Not yet, not yet.” Hikaru thought, waiting a little bit longer. “Now, Mr. Chekov,” Hikaru shouted.

There was a brief pause before the Franklin was lifted off into space, crashing into a few mountains and rocky inclines, but they made off the planet and into space. Pavel looked over at Hikaru as the pilot lifted one eyebrow; while the rest of his face practically screamed, “We barely pulled that off, I can’t believe we pulled that off.”

 

On their way back to Yorktown, Hikaru heard Nyota say, “I’m picking up distress signals from every frequency coming from Yorktown,”

“Oh no,” Hikaru thought, “Please be safe,” he said to himself.

“Krall's already starting his attack.” Nyota finished.

 

“Oh please be safe,” Hikaru repeated to himself.

 

\----- _Ben’s P.O.V (30 minutes ago)_ \-----

 

It was 10:00 on a Saturday morning and 16 hours had passed since Hikaru promised Ben and Demora that he would be home. Ben kept hoping that Hikaru would return in one piece and alive. Demora was frantic, she couldn’t sit still and Ben was struggling to calm her down.

“Hey Dem,” Ben asked softly, “Why don’t we go on that picnic? I’m sure that will cheer you up.”

She gave a light smile and said, “Okay, but we should have another one when daddy returns.”

 

The two left the apartment and headed to a nearby park to have their picnic.

“Papa, papa! Tell me about you and Daddy’s first date!” Demora asked when she and Ben were sitting on their picnic blanket, in a nearby park, under a tree.

“Okay, so it was about 8 years ago...”

 

\----- _Past_ \-----

 

_Their first date took place immediately after Hikaru woke up in the MedBay after the Venus Fly Trap Incident, that Ben, to this day, was still embarrassed about. Ben offered Hikaru a hand and they walked out of the MedBay, hands interlocked._

_“So, where are you taking me?” Hikaru asked._

_Ben thought for a moment, he had no idea. It was about 1:00 in the morning and the two of them were wide awake while the rest of the city was asleep._

 

_Suddenly, Ben had an idea, he dragged Hikaru away with a quick, “Come on!” Hikaru had no idea where Ben was taking him, but he trusted him and found it very thrilling. Ben led Hikaru to a beach, just off of the campus and sat on the sand._

_“Um, it’s a little early for swimming,” Hikaru joked, “And if you wanted to see me without my shirt on, you could have just asked.”_

_Ben rolled his eyes, “If you keep making jokes like that, you should stop trying to be a pilot and become a comedian instead.”_

 

_Hikaru chuckled and sat down next to him, “So what are we doing then?” He asked._

_“Well,” Ben began, “You came to Starfleet to see the stars right?”_

_“Yeah?” Hikaru asked, “What’s that got to do with-”_

_“Look up,” Ben interrupted him._

_Hikaru did as he was told and he was shocked. Above him was more stars than you could ever imagine._

_“Wow,” Hikaru thought, this was incredible. “How have I never seen this before?”_

_“Ben, how did you-”_

_“My family and I used to so stargazing when I was little. It works the best at night, when everyone’s asleep and the lights are minimized.”_

_Hikaru’s eyes glazed over the individual stars, he wasn’t as familiar with constellations since they kept changing as time passed._

 

_The two of them laid there for a significant period of time until Ben spoke up, “So, do you like it?”_

_Hikaru smiled and leaned over to grab Ben’s hand, “I love it.” He whispered._

_“Also,” Hikaru added, “You still owe me a kiss.”_

_Ben was confused, “I do?” He asked._

_“Yes, I kissed your cheek before I was knocked out with a hypo. It’s your turn to kiss me.”_

_Ben chuckled lightly, “Technically I don’t. I gave you a kiss on each cheek after you fell asleep. The first was for almost killing you with that plant, the second was because you kissed me.”_

 

_Hikaru was thankful that it was dark out, otherwise he’d be thoroughly embarrassed by the bright blush spreading across his cheeks._

_“But that doesn’t count because I was asleep, so you’ll have to give those to me again.” Hikaru spoke softly._

_Ben was flushed at this comment, “Did he really just say that?” He asked himself._

_Before he could psych himself out, he leaned over Hikaru and pecked both his cheeks softly before returning to his original place on the sand. They lay there for hours, talking quietly, holding hands and staring at the stars._

 

 

_They stayed there until the rising sun prevented them from seeing the stars. They got up and headed back to their dorm rooms when Ben dragged Hikaru off again towards the Botany labs._

_“Wait here,” Ben said, disappearing into the building before returning with Hikaru’s Antares Lunar Flowers._

_“Oh, I forgot about those.” Hikaru spoke._

_“Yeah, I figured you’d want them back, since that’s why you came here in the first place. ”_

_“Well, um, t-thank y-you.” Hikaru mumbled, his face flushing._

_Luckily, Ben’s face turned a vibrant shade of red as he handed Hikaru his flowers._

 

_Neither one of them was meeting each other’s eyes, they were too embarrassed to do so._

_“Well, um, I’ll s-see you around H-Hika-ru,” Ben spoke, giving a quick peck on Hikaru’s nose before disappearing around the corner._

_Hikaru waited a few seconds before letting out a very un-manly scream. He was definitely falling in love with this man and he couldn’t wait for their next date._

 

_Before Hikaru could move, he heard, “Now you owe me one.” He looked up to see Ben poking his head around the corner, blushing wildly._

 

_Yeah, he was definitely in love with this man._

 

\----- _Ben’s P.O.V: Present_ \-----

 

“Oooo,” Demora said when Ben had finished his story, “What about the Fencing Incident?” She asked.

Ben chuckled, “Oh, now this one’s my favourite...”

 

\----- _Ben’s P.O.V: Past-----_

 

_Ben had just been wandering around aimlessly. It was a Saturday afternoon, he had no classes, no seminars, no projects to catch up on, nothing to stress him out to his breaking point. There was a campus party later, but he didn’t have many friends and wasn’t fond of parties. He decided to walk around the grounds, admiring the planted flowers and trees in the courtyards._

 

_He doesn’t remember how or what brought him to the Academy Gym and the training rooms. He was just about to leave when he heard a familiar voice call out, “Ah ha! You thought you could fool me, but you are sadly mistaken.”_

_“Is that...?” Ben started to ask himself, “No it can’t be.” He walked over to the window, glancing inside to see, “Oh my god,” Ben whispered to himself. He was correct, right in front of his very eyes was Hikaru, his very new boyfriend that he’d been dating for a couple of weeks. They had shared many kisses and held hands countless times. Except Hikaru wasn’t maintaining his usual cool demeanor. Instead he was parrying around a practice dummy with a katana and having a one sided conversation with the dummy._

 

_Ben snickered, “Oh this is just too good to be true.” He thought to himself. He watched as his boyfriend jabbed the dummy several times before retreating back into a defensive position. Hikaru finished off by stabbing the dummy in the chest, skewering him._

 

_“Maybe next time you’ll think twice before you double cross me.” Hikaru answered._

_Ben couldn’t take it anymore, he couldn’t stop the flow of laughter the burst out of his mouth. He collapsed onto the ground wheezing._

_“BEN?!” A very embarrassed Hikaru asked._

_Ben still cackling away, got to his feet and squeezed out a, “That was some show you put on Hikaru.”_

 

_Hikaru felt very self-conscious, he was always slightly embarrassed by his interest in fencing and always tried to keep it a secret; despite starting “Starfleet Academy's European Swordsmanship Club” a few weeks ago._

_“So I take it you don’t like fencing,” Hikaru said, feeling dejected._

_Ben felt awful, “Oh, Ru, no, no, no, no. That’s not what I meant.” Ben said, grabbing Hikaru’s arms. “I loved you fencing, it’s your dialogue with the dummy that made me laugh so hard. I thought that was hilarious, but the fencing was amazing. I could watch that for hours.”_

_“Really?” Hikaru asked, looking Ben in the eyes._

_“Yes, it’s beautiful.”_

_“Would you ever come to my tournaments?” Hikaru asked, scratching the back of his neck._

_Ben’s eyes widened, “You have fencing tournaments?” He asked back._

_Hikaru nodded. Ben thought for a moment, “Do you object to loud cheering?” Ben questioned._

_“No, why?” Hikaru asked._

_Ben smirked, “No reason.”_

 

_Hikaru knew the reason 3 weeks later at the regional fencing tournament because whenever it was Hikaru’s turn to fence, there would be a very loud, very enthusiastic botanist in the crowd cheering, “Yeah Hikaru! Kick some ass!” And when Hikaru won his multiple fencing medals later, he could hear his Ben in the crowd, whooping loudly, yelling “That’s my boyfriend, that’s my Hikaru!”_

 

_“My Hikaru,” Hikaru thought, through his very heavy blush._

 

_That sounded beautiful._

 

\----- _Ben’s P.O.V: Present_ \-----

 

It was going well, but just as they were heading back to their apartment, people in the street were hollering and running away. Ben, confused, looked up at the sky and saw a swarm of small ships attacking Yorktown. Ben immediately picked up Demora and sped towards their designated safety areas. Once they were inside, they waited for what seemed like hours until the doors finally opened and they were let out.

 

There was only one thing on Ben’s mind now, finding Hikaru.

 

\----- _Hikaru’s P.O.V-----_

 

Luckily, through the power of music, the bridge crew were able to defeat the swarm of drones, except three that made it into Yorktown’s base. However, the Franklin intercepted the three ships and Kirk chased after Krall; shortly after, Krall was launched into space, along with the weapon and Kirk was caught by Spock and Bones’s drone.

 

They had saved Yorktown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's the second last chapter, I hope you enjoyed it! There's a short epilogue after this chapter and a sequel I'm still working on. Also, I will probably write some short oneshots of the parts I glazed over, like Ben's lab catching fire, the indoor thunderstorm picnic and several others. 
> 
> I will probably write another, more in dept version of the fencing headcanon by whatthebuckybarnes and write more of her cute headcanons that can be found [here](http://whatthebuckybarnes.tumblr.com/post/148217443080/i-just-have-so-many-questions-about-sulu-and)


	9. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hikaru's reunited with his family for a second time and Kirk has a gift for the Sulu family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow can you believe it, this is the last chapter of this story. I am working on a sequel, I just started chapter 7 and it's got a lot of cute family interactions and mishaps. It's a super cute, super fluffy story of the Sulu family. It takes place immediately after this story and I assure you it will be just as good. 
> 
> Anyways, here's the final chapter!! I hope you like it!!!
> 
> Thank you to all of you who have stuck through this journey and read my story, I really appreciate it. I’ve got lots of plans and stories for Hikaru, Ben and Demora, some of which will be attached to this story and some will not. I will try and post those as soon as I can, but for the meantime, enjoy this last chapter. I love you all and thank you so much for reading this story!!

Hikaru was frantically searching the crowd of people gathered outside of Yorktown’s city plaza. Hikaru knew that Ben and Demora had to be around here somewhere. He weaved his way through the crowd of people, searching for them. “Where are they, they’ve got to be here.” Hikaru stopped moving and looked around, “Where would they be?” He asked himself.

“HIKAAAARU!!” Hikaru’s ears shot back, he knew that voice; it was Ben. He spun around until his eyes made contact with Ben’s. Hikaru let out a sigh of relief and a bright smile as he ran towards his family. Hikaru hugged them with all the strength his arms could muster; he was grateful that his family was safe. He kissed Demora’s cheeks, forehead and the top of her head more times than was probably necessary. Pulling her towards his chest, he gave Ben a much needed kiss on the lips.

 

The two broke apart just as Demora exclaimed, “Daddy you’re home! You missed our picnic.”

“What?” He asked, “You had a picnic without me?”

“You weren’t here, so we had one with just the two of us.” Hikaru felt terrible, he never intended to miss their picnic or yesterday’s dinner. But he was here now and that’s all that mattered.

“So what happened out there?” Ben asked.

Hikaru sighed, “It’s a long story. The Enterprise got destroyed and we crashed onto some terrible planet that was run by a 100 year old Starfleet Captain. Then Kirk, Spock and Bones saved the Enterprise crew, which included me, from the old Captain. After that, we used the USS Franklin, conveniently on the planet, to escape and save Yorktown.” Hikaru answered, summarizing the story, leaving out the parts where he almost died multiple times while on this mission.

“Daddy’s a hero!” Demora shouted, excitedly

“Wow, that’s quite the story,” Ben started, “What about your photo album?” He asked.

 

Hikaru had forgotten about that, “It’s gone, I don’t know what happened to it. I went back for it before evacuating, but it was gone. I’m sorry.” Hikaru answered, looking down at the ground, feeling terrible.

“Hikaru, I don’t care about some photo album, I’m just happy you’re alive.” Ben spoke, giving his husband a huge hug, that Demora joined in on. They were startled by a voice behind them that said, “Hikaru, there you are.”

 

The family broke apart to see Captain Kirk standing beside them. “I forgot to give you this,” he said, reaching into his jacket and pulling out the photo album.

“No way,” Hikaru spoke, shocked. “How? How did you get this?” He asked.

 

Kirk smiled, “Well it started when Nyota told me on the bridge you were feeling homesick and weren’t really up to going on this mission...” Kirk trailed off as he began to tell the small family how he saved their precious, irreplaceable family photos.

 

\----- _Kirk’s P.O.V: Past_ \-----

 

_“Captain,” Nyota said, pulling Jim off to the side for a minute. “I’m worried about Su-Hikaru.”_

_Jim looked puzzled, “Why? What’s going on? Is he having...troubles at home?” Kirk asked quietly._

_“No, nothing like that,” Nyota began, “He’s very emotional right now and he misses his family a lot and I think he feels guilty for not being as involved in their lives, because of his job.”_

_“Oh, um, do you have any suggestions to help our emotionally compromised helmsman?” Kirk asked._

_“No, I don’t,” Nyota answered, “He’s brought his photo album with him, the one he told us about before and he was clinging to it like a lifeline.”_

_“What has he done with his album?”_

_“He said he had to drop by his quarters, so I assume he left it in there.”_

_“Okay, well good to know, I’ll keep an eye on him.”_

 

_The two split apart just as Hikaru stepped out onto the bridge._

 

 

_“Abandon Ship,” Kirk spoke over the conn, he needed to get the saucer separated and save his crew. He ran down to engineering, stopping when he got an idea. He turned around and made his way to Hikaru’s quarters. He entered in his Captain override code and the door opened. He stepped inside and sure enough, there was a photo album and a framed picture sitting on Hikaru desk. He opened the framed photo and slid the it into an empty slot in the photo album. He grabbed it and thinking on his feet, he hid it in a secret compartment just outside of Hikaru’s room. He’d have to come back for it later._

 

_Kirk made it off the Enterprise safely and was now heading for the burning bridge with Pavel and Kalara. Once Pavel was working on tracking down the remaining crew, Kirk took the alien with him and returned to the secret compartment. He was able to grab it and stuff it into an inside pocket in his jacket, just seconds before the alien knocked him back and pointed a phaser at him._

 

_After he and Pavel made it off the burning remains of the Enterprise, they were trapped and found by Scotty and Jaylah. The four of them were able to find Spock and Bones and they were all standing on the Franklin's bridge._

_When the team of 6 had created their, “Bust The Crew Out” plan, Jim took Pavel aside._

_“Mr. Chekov,” Kirk began, “I need you to take care of this.” He said, reaching into his jacket and handing him Hikaru’s family photo album._

_Confused Pavel opened it, looking at the vast amount of developed photos of Hikaru’s family._

_“Keptin, how and vhy do you have zis?” Pavel asked._

_“It’s a long story.” He said, looking down at the album, “But you’re going to be a lot safer here on the ship than I will be out there. So I need you to keep that safe, don’t let anything happen to it.”_

_“Of course, Keptin,” Pavel said, tucking the album into his survival jacket._

 

 

_After Spock and Bones saved Jim from being shot into space, they landed just outside of the city plaza. The crew was evacuating the Franklin and reuniting with their loved ones. Jim couldn’t help but to smile; his family was always his crew, and it always made him happy to see them with their families they had to leave behind._

_Jim was about to find Hikaru, and his family, when he collided with Pavel. Jim chuckled lightly, “Watch where you’re going there Pavel.” He answered._

_“Sorry Keptin,” Pavel replied, “I’ve got a meeting vith Commadore Paris, so I vas going to give zis to you.” He spoke, handing him Hikaru’s photo album._

_“Oh, okay,” Jim said, taking the album and putting it in his jacket. “Thanks Pavel, I’ll make sure he gets this.” Kirk responded, as he walked through the crowd, looking for the helmsman._

 

_“Ah, there you are,” He mumbled to himself, walking towards Hikaru, whom was being embraced by his husband and daughter._

 

_\-----Hikaru’s P.O.V: Present Day-----_

 

Hikaru was stunned, Jim and Pavel went through all that just to make sure his album was safe? “Wow, Jim, I can’t possibly thank you enough for this.” Hikaru spoke, giving his Captain a large hug, shedding a few tears into his shoulder.

“Thank you, so much, this means everything to us.” Hikaru answered, letting go of Jim and moving back to his family.

“Well, I couldn’t just leave your family on the Enterprise,” Kirk replied, “I wasn’t going to leave anyone behind.” Kirk smiled at the family.

Ben smiled back, his eyes red, he was amazed that Kirk went through all that to get them their photos back.

“Thank you, Jim,” Ben spoke, his voice soft.

“It was my pleasure,” He answered. Jim looked back at the family and gave them a wave, before disappearing into the crowd.

 

Hikaru turned to his family, “Home?” He asked.

Ben smiled at him, wrapping his arm around Hikaru; the other still supporting Demora. Ben led their family away from the plaza and back to their apartment on the other side of Yorktown.

  
At long last, Hikaru was finally home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it, that's the end of this story. I will probably post the first chapter of the sequel in a couple of days. It will be added to the same series as this story and I hope you'll enjoy it! 
> 
> Please let me know what you thought and if there's any suggestions or ideas you have that you'd like me to include in this series (or anything else). Feel free to rant with me or exchange head canons about this cute family on tumblr. 
> 
> I love all of you so much, you're all fantastic and I look forward to uploading more of my stories.

**Author's Note:**

> So that's the end of the first chapter, please let me know what you think. I'll try to update this story every few days, so please be patient. I have lots of ideas and things planned for this story and I hope you'll enjoy them.


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